Tomorrow is another Night
by Snooosh
Summary: Book two: Chrono fell towards his inner beast, its bloodthirst drove him on a quest for revenge during which he ended up sacrificing his own humanity. It will take something or someone very special to help him regain that which he has lost. CxR.
1. Prologue

Author's note:

This is a only a prologue, so I'll keep it short and merely say... enjoy.

Disclaimer: Since no CC characters has entered the story yet, you won't get anything from me.

* * *

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Prologue

* * *

It smells... 

If anybody are to ask me which sense is the most affected, I will be forced to say the smell.

It smells of the nearby flames...

Literally assaulting me with its heavy odor, permeating through the air like a thick – almost palpable – mist, filling my mind and my lungs with its viscous aroma.

It smells of the flowing blood...

The scent is new to me, both in flavor and implication. But at the same time it is unmistakably clear, leaving no doubt as to that which has caused it.

It smells of death...

I breathe in. I allow the smell to circulate through my body, to become part of me. It is strange... I have never breathed this scent before... and yet it is so well known to me, so very familiar – like a child I never knew I had, which has now finally come home.

It smells... good!

On the ground before me is the one I would call my brother, he is completely motionless, his eyes are wide open, and he is silent. A waning stream of blood exudes from the open wound in his torso and from his mouth like crimson vomit. His life has left him, and I am the one responsible. I opened him up, plunged the skinning knife into his bowels below the belly button, and dragged the blade all the way up until it met the bones of his ribcage, allowing the life to escape from his body through the open hole. He barely uttered a sound, perhaps because the muscles he required to scream were overcome with the shock of being cut in half. He didn't even move... no, he simply stared at me with a startled look in his eyes, as I gutted him like one would a wild boar.

What have I done...?

It is an honest question... does a word for such an act even exist? I really don't know... but I don't think there is one... not yet at least. A drop of red liquid falls from my right arm. The arm is caked with the substance all the way up to the elbow, and I lick a bit off of the back of my hand.

Why did I do it...?

I don't... know. Perhaps I was envious of the apparent approval he received. The smoke from his fire still rises straight up into the air, while mine crawls across the ground like vermin, as if my sacrifice was insignificant – why is that? Is meat worth more than fruit and berries? Is being a hunter worth more than being a forager? Why do I need to kill to gain favor? Did I even gain favor?

The sun descends...

That is good. It is too bright... too happy... too much right now. I don't like it. The darkness is on its way – I can feel it... I don't know how exactly, but I can definitely feel it coming. The darkness my world is heading for.

The air crackles with the sound of the burning pyres...

Maybe calling them pyres is a bit wrong, but to me they seem like nothing else. Burning plants and animals alike, destroying the last proof of their mortal existence, turning them into black smoke in the sky. I don't like the flames, and I emit a low hiss. I should get away from here. It's not safe. I need to go somewhere dark where I can hide. If I am discovered I will be hunted, I'm sure of it... so I need to get away. Get away from the fires, get away from the light, get away from the remains of my brother, just... get away. The knife drops from my hand and makes a clattering sound as it hits the stony ground.

What am I becoming...?

My eyes wander to the surprised looking expression of one I have loved as much as my own life – to the fires which now sting my skin, threatening to leap over to consume me – to the sun which mocks me by shedding light on me and my sins. I just want to escape it all. I just want to flee. I just want to go where my whims take me. I just want to obey my instincts.

I just want to be guided... by the smell.

My head drops low.

My shoulders slump in resigned acceptance.

And I turn around to wander off into the awaiting night.

Truly... I am nothing...

but a beast.

* * *

Short... I know, but it's just a prologue, though hopefully it was enough to whet your appetite. It probably doesn't make much sense yet, but I felt like writing it, and it will become evident later what it was about. 


	2. 1,1: Embraced by an Angel

Ok... Long time, no update.

I'm sorry for taking so long to actually get this story rolling, but apart from spending time on my project, I've been temporarily working as a part time supporting teacher these past six weeks. That means I've been teaching classical mechanics and other immensely exciting stuff to 1st year university students, in order to aid my slightly crummy financial situation – something which takes up A LOT of time, although it was kinda fun to be on 'the other side' in a classroom so to say. Since the course is ending pretty soon, I will be reverting back to more regular work hours (hopefully get more sleep too), and thus have more time to write (and read which I've also been neglecting). Due to the long wait, I've tried to make this chapter fairly long, so I could get the plot moving, and give an indication of which direction this fic will be taking.

This will be a continuation of the anime, and as such incompatible with the ending of the manga (contrary to the statement about heresy in my first chapter of TCK, I have read several volumes of the manga now). This will be a cliché type of history-repeating-itself fic, which means that there will be a lot characters in the story which are 'parallel' characters from the anime (also a few who are the exact same person as they were then), furthermore a lot of things which happened in the anime (and maybe a few things which didn't) will 'happen' too in this story. The rating will make for a more adult story, which generally means that Chrno will be adult more of the time, and not degraded to a comic relief sidekick, as the anime had the audacity to practice way too much. Aion should be more evil, Rosette should be more reckless (wonder if I can pull that off), Elder should be more perverted, Shader (Sheda? Ach to hell with name spelling) more wacky etc. etc.

Or at least I'll try to make them so.

Before I start, I would like to mention that when I started my first fanfiction, I had no intention of writing more than one story. The idea for this current story was just something I toyed a bit with at that time, and I never expected that I would ever jot it down. The reason why I actually got so far as to write this thing is no secret: Reviews.

I guess I became convinced from the reviews received, that there were people out there who actually read and enjoyed my writing, and that motivated me to try and write more. So this is sort of a thank you to everyone who has ever reviewed any of my stories – you know who you are. I know it sounds utterly cheesy, but honestly... I would not have written as much as I have without getting the feedback that I've got from all of you, so... thank you... and curse you all for getting me addicted. :)

For those who haven't reviewed but still read the stories, I'll say thank you for following my little imagination, hopefully you'll keep reading. After all, the main reason for posting stories on the web is that others read them, is it not?

Lastly I'd like to say a few words about an authoress named Scarred Rose, who not only have been so kind as to review my stories, but also managed to give me the very first shout-out I've gotten on the web (I know, my web-life has not been the most active). In my humble opinion I consider her a very good author, and since you are already browsing through the M-section I strongly recommend that you go and read and review her stories if you haven't already done so. If you are anywhere near a supporter of the canon couple of CC you would definitely be missing out if you decided to skip them.

Disclaimer: In order to own Chrno Crusade or any of the characters, I would have to be Daisuke Moriyama – I am not, so I don't.

* * *

Legend:

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

EXCLAMATION

And now... story time.

* * *

In this world there are beings that go through life completely oblivious to the underlying forces which shape and govern their existence.

Some call these beings 'sleepers' because they consider them to live in an illusion, only perceiving vague hints of their physical and metaphysical surroundings – like sleepwalkers fumbling blindly through shifting dreams, never knowing their true direction or destination.

Others refer to these beings as 'kine' as they consider them little more than prey to feed upon and manipulate. And just like the sheep is blind to the wolf lurking in the outskirts of the nearby forest, or an entire herd of cattle readily walks into a slaughterhouse never knowing it is moving towards its own death, so are these beings unaware of the predators hiding in their midst.

To themselves these beings are known as 'humans'.

* * *

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Chapter 1 – Embraced by an Angel

* * *

It's the 1950's.

The most destructive and hurtful war in the history of mankind had ended just 5 years prior to the start of this decade. A war which had claimed more than 60 million human lives – almost half of these civilians – and had caused untold devastation in large parts of the world, particularly Central Europe and Japan.

After the fighting had ceased, society was overcome by post-war mentality, and the need to be comfortable outweighed everything else. New music primarily consisted of easy-listening feel-good tracks, and the movies generally portrayed idealized people in idealized stories. This had been the trend since the late 40's, and it had helped the world to recuperate.

But every trend comes to an end.

Hollywood were presumably the first to discover the changing times. These changes weren't brought by the veterans of war, they were not brought by the average well established family household, and they were not even brought by the influential power brokers or the large companies, who were also just playing along to a tune set by an entirely different group of people. It was a group that had been largely overlooked up until now – one which had now earned a name for itself.

The word 'teenager' had entered the vocabulary.

At some point, wounds heal enough that you don't need to lick them anymore, and for this group of people those wounds never existed in the first place – they were the children who didn't experience or didn't understand the horrors of the war, at the time it raged across the earth. They did not need to be sheltered from any evil, nor comforted all the time, and they were now growing up. The economy was also finally regaining its former strength, having almost returned to the level of the late twenties. As people became richer, the young had more money than ever before, and the entertainment industries were not slow in creating reasons for spending it. Movies appealed more and more to these teenagers, music had seen the emergence of Rock 'n Roll, people bought more cars – and raced each other in them – television entered the households, and optimism was at an all time high. It had begun cautiously, possibly held back – but not stopped – by the war in Korea, but by the middle of the decade the trend was clear to everyone.

The time for healing was over.

Now it was time to have fun.

The year was 1957, the month was June, the clock showed that it was evening, and driving southwards on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco was a young man. Ahead of him he could see the Presidio National park approach, and to his right the sun was busy setting over the Pacific, making the sky appear to be on fire, and the water sparkle. The car was a brand new crimson Ford Thunderbird convertible – not an entirely inexpensive vehicle – and the mild summer weather had allowed him to drive at a leisurely pace with the roof down. The driver – a 20 year old college student – reached towards the radio where 'All Shook Up' by Elvis Presley was playing and turned it up a bit. He had shoulder length hair, a hairstyle which was definitely not common for the time, and the blackish hue almost bordered on the color blue or purple. He did not look to be of Asian origin, although his eyes were slightly slanted. They were a very distinct color of reddish brown – almost maroon – and he had been told more than once that there was a certain... intensity about them. His ears were also a bit odd, in the sense that where most people had rounded auricles his were pointed at the tip. The most strikingly strange feature about him though had to be the three birthmarks. Not that birthmarks were strange in themselves, but these three were neatly arranged in a symmetric triangle on the center of his forehead, almost as if someone had planted them there for a reason. He certainly looked different from the average twenty year old, but as far as he had perceived, it was not different in a bad way.

His name was Christopher Cronehill.

He had been the youngest of three brothers, the eldest – Darren – was a soldier during the end of the Second World War. He had been in the navy, until the day where the destroyer he was assigned to was sunk by a kamikaze attack. To keep morale high at home, the government had shown propaganda movies of the futility of the Japanese suicide warfare methods, but the families of those who were actually fighting knew better. The tactic was costly in both material and human lives – on both sides.

His other older brother – Gary – was a stout supporter of the western way of life, and an equally stout opposer of the Soviet Union. Thus when the plague of international communism threatened the free country of South Korea, Gary didn't delay long to enroll into the armed forces.

He ended up as a statistic among roughly 55000 of his fellow soldiers.

Losing two brothers had been a hard blow for Christopher, a harder one for his parents, and at a certain point in time he had almost felt that he was the one who had to take care of them. When the news of Gary's death arrived, George, Christopher's father, entered a state of almost catatonic apathy upon the loss of his second son, and a prolonged period of absence ended up costing him his job. Since Christopher's mother – Ann – never had been employed, the family was now without any steady income, and seemed doomed to poverty.

But the 14 year old boy had quickly become determined to help out with the current situation, and had begun working in his spare time, under the pretense that he was with friends. At first he had merely run errands and done menial labor for different kinds of small shops, but after doing a bit of work in a small art store owned by a friendly old man, an idea had struck him. Ever since he was a little kid, he had liked working with his hands, and for some time now he had enjoyed making small statuettes out of carved wood and later chiseled stone. It was a fairly cheap hobby, since only the tools needed to be bought, and that was pretty much a one-time expense. So when the boy saw the kinds of things, which were sold in the art shop, he decided to try and talk the old man into selling what he considered some of his better pieces. Actually the owner didn't require much convincing, and pretty soon the boy found some of his things on the shelves as well – luckily they were vendable too. The extra money Christopher earned from his spare time jobs and his share of the sold figurines, was given to his mother, who now also did a little part time secretary work to help the household economy.

When at first his father found out about this, he became immensely embarrassed that both his wife and son were working because he wasn't. But shame turned into motivation, and before long George had found himself a new job as a salesman in an electronics store. He literally began working his ass off, making more money than the little family needed to get by. Christopher was forbidden to do any work other than school, although he was still allowed to make and sell his small sculptures. Some might have seen it as pride, that Christopher's father needed to be the backbone of the family's income, but in truth the man had discovered something.

Christopher had talent.

That, and the boy had really begun showing a genuine interest in art. Thus George had found a new goal he had to obtain: He would save up the money for his son to go to college and study the art which he loved – even if it meant working more than 12 hours a day.

From that day on the little family worked to build up a decent monetary saving, and five years later the now young man could attend college – majoring in art.

Although artistry was his primary passion, Christopher had developed a healthy interest in several different fields over the years. Apart from his main study focus, he also dabbled a bit with philosophy, science, history, theology and pretty much whatever else appealed to his curiosity. Finding beauty in creation, somehow lessened the hurt of destruction.

Generally Christopher avoided violence as well, and even though he was physically quite fit and probably could hold his own in most brawls, he would rather walk away from a situation than fight his way through. It was not that he was particularly cowardly, and if something he cared about was threatened, he was not likely to back down. Even so, he did not want to see a fight all the way through to the end if he was given the opportunity to stop it. This could all be interpreted as a reaction to the death of his brothers, but actually it had deeper roots than that.

For as long as he could remember an odd fear had lived inside him – a fear of causing regret.

Needless to say, Christopher's parents were very supportive of him pursuing a more peaceful lifestyle than his brothers. They had made sure that he knew this as well, which was why they had spent the money to allow him a study trip to London, where he had lived the past six months.

That was also the reason why he was now driving around in a brand new luxury sports car.

As the sun descended below the horizon, and the radio played the latest Rock 'n Roll hits, the car continued south via the streets of San Francisco. Pretty soon it was cruising down Phelan avenue, which meant that Christopher had reached his destination – the San Francisco City College. He turned left across the road, and made his way up the driveway, quickly finding a suitable parking spot, where he was supposed to meet up with...

"Yo! Chrono!"

_That_ was quick.

In response to his nickname, the driver turned around, and jumped out of his vehicle, not bothering to open the door. Walking towards him was a guy dressed in jeans, a plain white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. His hair was short, medium dark and shining in the fading light making Chrono wonder just how many pounds of grease was in it to make it look like that. It was a guy he hadn't seen in six months.

"Hi Jake."

Jake's real name was Ken Jackson – he had just always preferred his last name since he considered Ken to be rather boring.

"Damn it's good to see you again." Jake said, as he gave his old friend a light punch to the shoulder. "So how was England... WHOA... is that the new T-bird?"

Typical. They hadn't seen each other for half a year, and the first thing the guy noticed, was the car.

"Yeah it is... got it as kind of a 'welcome home' present."

"Oh you lucky S.O.B. Which model is it?"

"An E-type."

Jake's interest increased at this statement, the model E was not the fastest, but it was definitely not the standard 1957 Thunderbird either. "Cool..." He dragged the word out in order to emphasize his approval. "So it's got the whole deal... bent-eight, a quad carb and all that?"

The proud owner leaned on his vehicle. "Yup, actually it has twin carburetors, and 270 horses under the hood."

Jake walked around the car, letting his hand grace lovingly across the crimson metal surface. He turned smilingly towards Chrono who stood at the other side of the vehicle, there was the important question left.

"So... how fast does it go?"

"Dunno actually, I haven't tried pushing it to the limit, but I probably past 120."

"Nice... you know you look pretty different, with that hair and the chrome-plating."

Jake was referring to Chrono's clothes, which consisted of a dark blue drape jacket with red collar and cuffs, a purple dress style shirt, and a pair of dark drainpipe jeans. "Yeah... it's a style I picked up in London, the whole Marlon Brando look never appealed that much to me."

"Nah... you're right. Anyway, the chicks'll probably dig it." Jake said as he got into the passenger seat. "Let's burn some rubber."

Chrono got in as well and started the car. The strong rumble of the full-grown V8 engine gave a slight shake to the vehicle, and soon it was moving out of the Pacific campus area again. "Where are we going?"

"Pacific Heights, Laguna street. Anyway... how was London?" Jake asked as he turned the radio up.

"Pretty cool I think. There was a lot of architecture and historical buildings and things to see, although a lot of it have not yet been rebuilt from the destruction of the war yet."

"Yeah... that's pretty bad." He lit up a cigarette. "How about the chicks?"

Chrono couldn't help but smile at that question. "I don't know actually, I didn't really have that much time for things besides my studies."

"Didn't have much... or didn't make much...? Seriously man, you're wasting your time. With your looks, you should be scoring tons of babes... and I'm saying this as a guy."

It was back to the old routine... when it came to women, Jake was always on the lookout, both for himself and for his friends. If he had been a woman himself, he would have been one of those who always insisted on hooking people up, hoping to make every single one of her friends into one half of a couple. But he was a guy, and that meant that he merely wanted for himself and his friends to get laid. Not that Chrono was a twenty year old virgin, and he had dated a couple of girls, but none of it had felt... right, for a lack of a better word. Or maybe he was just too picky.

"You're probably right."

"You know damn well I'm right..." Jake said as he exhaled. "But hell... don't worry about it there's gonna be plenty of opportunities at the bash tonight."

Yeah tonight was probably going to be fun. The two friends fell silent for a moment, letting the music and the sound of the car set the mood for the night. They drove out onto a wider street.

"Hey this piece is pretty straight, try and floor it."

Chrono smiled.

He had been meaning to test how fast the car could go, and this road seemed as good a place as any.

He put his foot down and the thundering sound of the engine increased. It didn't take the car long to go past 60, and the speed climbed quickly past 70, 80 and 90 as well. The wind roared along with the engine, as if the two guys were in the middle of a storm, and the bird sounded like it really enjoyed getting air under its wings. By the time they got past 110 Chrono began to ease the gas, since they would be turning down Pacific Avenue pretty soon.

"DAMN!" Jake exclaimed, when regular speech could be heard again. "You could make SO much bread out on the strip with this rod, all you need to do is go for pinks and you'd be swimming in cash before you know it!" He was clearly excited.

"You know..." Chrono responded. "I'm not really about to bet my car in a race, a few days after I got it."

"Dammit... you really need to grow a spine, I mean there's practically no risk at all with this thing, I don't think anybody out there can keep up with it."

"Well then, enlighten me..." The driver said with a smug smile. "Since you apparently know so much about this... why is it that you're the one talking like a hot-rodder, but I'm the one giving you a ride?"

"Hey... that was below the belt. I actually had one not too long ago, but I lost it to this creep in a souped up deuce." He took a long drag on his cigarette. "Anyway..." exhale. "It was a real tank, so it didn't matter much, but with this thing I could easily win it back AND take his rod too."

"I hope you're not offended, when I say that I'm not gonna let you borrow it."

"I'm not. If this was mine I sure as hell wouldn't lend it to anyone either." Jake responded with a grin. "Alright just find somewhere around here to park, it's just down there." Jake was pointing a bit further down the road at a large mansion-like house. Numerous cars were parked outside, and the sounds of people talking and laughing could be heard.

Chrono quickly found a spot where he pulled over. The two guys got out. Chrono straightened his outfit while Jake stomped out his cigarette.

"Alright let's go," Chrono said.

"Just a sec." Jake pulled out his comb from the his rear pocket and began running it through his hair.

"Seriously, your hair's fine."

"Well pardon me for taking care of my nest." Jake responded with an obvious fake English accent, as he checked up on his hairdressing in the side mirror of the car. "I guess I just like keeping it in shape unlike some people I know, who don't even have the common decency to get it cut."

Chrono rolled his eyes.

"There... let's get moving."

Jake had obviously had an active social life these past six months, because several people Chrono didn't recognize greeted them on the way through the front yard. He also noticed how his own look had a way of attracting more than a sideways glance from most people there – as always Chrono managed to stand out.

"Hi Jake..." a short brunette, who had just come outside, chirped. "You're late as usual..." she gave a small pout.

"Sry... 'bout that baby..." Jake responded playfully. "Blame the Englishman here... he's the one who refused to violate too many traffic regulations..."

"Oh... and who might... no way... Chrono...?" She exclaimed. "When did you get back? It's so good to see you again!" She almost flung herself at him.

"Good to see you too Jamie..." The slightly surprised guy responded grinning.

"Oh... how cute. You've picked up an accent," she interrupted. "And are those clothes from England too? You look so... stylish, and when did you let your hair grow..." the stream of questions that followed didn't allow for a single one of them to be answered, but the girl was obviously too excited about asking them that she couldn't wait for a response, and Chrono decided to let her jabber for a bit.

"So..." She tilted her head slightly askew. "Can I expect you to ask me for a dance tonight?" This time she waited.

"Possibly..." Chrono replied. "But you'll have to promise to... behave."

"I will..." She gave him an innocent look. "And I'll be looking forward to it."

"Look, I'll just be going inside with Jake to get a drink, but I'll find you later," Chrono said.

"Ok then... And Chrono." She gave a little smile while batting her eyelashes. "Welcome back."

"Thanks."

Turning around Chrono quickly found Jake again who in mere seconds had managed to start a friendly discussion revolving around the art of drag-racing. As far as Chrono could pick up from the few words he had heard, it was about whether or not it was sensible to go past 5000 rpm before switching to third on a manual transmission. As if it truly mattered either way.

"Hey Jake, let's go get something to drink."

"Sure thing... hey where did you leave Jamie?"

"I'll catch up with her again when it's time to dance."

"You'd better... it'll be a crime for you not to."

Inside the air was filled with the sound of Bill Haley and his Comets played at quite high volume – something which surprised Chrono a bit since he didn't know of any regular gramophones able to play very loud. In here there were even more people, and Chrono recognized quite a bit of them now. They were all from college, as was the one throwing the party. The living room had been stripped of furniture, and a full-blown dance-floor had been created where several couples already were out 'Rocking around the Clock' as the song went. In the back he could see the source of music in the form of an actual Juke-box which had been placed to supply the entertainment tonight.

The two guys made their way to the self-service bar where Jake grabbed a lager. "Beer?" he asked.

"No thanks... I'll make myself a drink." Chrono responded while grabbing a hold of the dark rum.

"Didn't know you knew how to mix drinks."

"You don't live in a country where it's legal to drink for half a year, without picking up a thing or two." The black-haired responded with a smile.

"Hah. You're right about that." Jake took a sip of his beer. "So I take it that you did have time besides your studies then."

"Well... the pub _was_ on the way home."

And then he spotted her.

She was sitting in a couch in the opposite end of the room talking to some guy, or... the guy was talking to _her_, and she pretty much smiled and nodded gracefully, pretending to be interested while she most likely wasn't. Her hair was pure blond, and tied into a ponytail. Her features were almost otherworldly beautiful, and, even from here, Chrono could see that her eyes were a rich sky-blue color, seemingly capable of lighting up her delicate face. She was wearing a peach colored pencil skirt, which fit snugly around the curves of her hips. The skirt had a slit that allowed clear view of her left leg to just above the knee. Her upper body was hugged by a sleeveless shirt the same color as the skirt, exposing her shoulders, the topmost part of her chest and...

"Uhh... don't you think that drink is getting a bit strong?" Jake asked.

"What? Oh hell!" Chrono exclaimed as he became aware that he was still holding the rum at a an angle suitable for pouring. "Damn. I didn't see that."

"No kidding you went completely blank for a second there, what happened?"

"Her..." Chrono nodded in the given direction. "Who's that?"

Jake turned to see who his friend was talking about. "Wow! Now there's a cherry if I ever saw one. I don't know actually, must be some new student or something. Maybe she's from abroad and here for the semester." Jake answered not looking at Chrono. "The guy's a dunce, let's go save her."

"Sure, just gotta fix this." Chrono was not about to drink a 70 proof drink consisting mainly of several ounces of rum.

"Nevermind. She just ditched him, and is coming over here." Jake grabbed his trademark comb and straightened his already smooth and slick hair. "Just so you know. This one's fair game."

Chrono didn't respond. He was trying to concentrate on mixing his next drink, although his attention kept wandering away from the liquor to the female angel who was gliding effortlessly across the floor to where the two guys were standing. Doing two things at the same time was hard enough, responding was just downright impossible now – multitasking just wasn't a guy thing. He noticed how the girl was seemingly looking at him, shooting him a little smile which went all the way from her red lips to her blue eyes. Those eyes... Chrono could swear that he could almost see the sun rise in those eyes.

"Hey baby. You seem awfully new around here." Jake said when she came within hearing range. She turned her attention towards the greaser and responded with a slight British accent.

"I just arrived recently, so I don't know that many people yet."

"Well, we're quite friendly around here." Jake said moving slightly closer. "So you don't need to worry about getting to know people."

"That's good to know." The girl said giving him a smile.

"So where are you from, since you're not from around here?" He took a sip of his beer.

"The UK."

"Not from England, right?" Chrono had finished mixing his drink and decided it was time to join in the conversation. "I mean... you sound more like you're from, I dunno... Wales."

"You could hear that?" She quickly shifted her eyes back to the black haired guy. "Actually I _am _from Wales... originally. In fact." She reached out and let a finger trace innocently along the collar of the jacket as if she was trying to feel the red velvet trimming – a gesture which made Chrono forget to breathe for just a fraction of a second. "I noticed your jacket, and couldn't help wondering if you were from across the pond yourself."

"Wellmm..." Chrono had to take a tenth of a second to straighten himself. "I just got back from a six month trip to London, where I picked up the style. Besides, the whole 'rebel on a motorcycle' look was never my thing anyway."

"Yeah, you always were more for the stuck up rich kid look – never were that rich though." Jake taunted amiably.

"You're just jealous of my car and mad about losing your own in a race – I mean what's a hot-rodder without his rod? A not-rodder?" Chrono retorted.

"I've got that under control – I'm already working on my next car, and I've definitely made more money than I've lost out on the strip, where as some people I know just mooch off of their folks."

"Heh you sound like you're gonna make a living driving cars."

"You know I will, one way or the other."

The friendly argument was cut short when the girl giggled softly. "Oh don't let me interrupt you," she said quickly. "It's amusing to watch."

"Hear that?" Jake said. "Maybe we should start a show and charge people for it."

"I don't think we'd do very well unfortunately." Chrono turned towards the British blonde again. "Do you want something to drink – I can probably mix something for you."

"No thanks, I don't drink..." She replied with a little smile. "Alcohol, that is."

Jake had to control himself not to choke on his beer. "Why?" He said after gulping down the brew in his mouth.

"Let's just say, that I have reasons for not drinking," the girl responded. "But if you like, you can give me your names instead."

"Well, I'm Jake, and the future Michelangelo there is called Chrono."

"You're an artist?" The girl sounded genuinely enthusiastic now, and she eyed the black haired art student intensely.

"Uh... not really... yet, but uhm... I've always liked... sculpting, and ahm... I'm studying art right now." Chrono suddenly felt very small under her gaze. There was something about those eyes which seemed to bore into his very soul, almost making him forget how to talk, although – strange as it may sound – it wasn't uncomfortable.

"But you _are_ sculpting things yourself?"

The surroundings somehow began to fade from view, and all Chrono could see at this moment was the face of the delicate British blonde, who eyed him with a little smile and an expression a bit like a curious bird. She was downright gorgeous and he suddenly became extremely nervous that he might drop his jaw there and then. "Well... yes."

"Then you _are_ an artist." She said matter-of-factly, and shifted her eyes to Jake. "Wouldn't you say so too?"

"Heh, sure would, and since you two kids seem to be getting along so well, I think I'll leave you with each other," As Jake turned to leave, he gave Chrono a look which very much could be interpreted as 'go for it'.

Chrono knew why Jake had decided to back out – apart from the fact that the girl obviously seemed more interested in Chrono, the whole 'no alcohol' thing didn't suit him at all. He believed that someone with that kind of policy, probably wouldn't go very far on the first night, and Chrono had a hard time imagining him going steady with a girl who wouldn't drink. It was no coincidence that he had referred to Chrono as 'the future Michelangelo' either. Despite his seemingly carefree nature, Jake was fairly insightful and pretty good at reading people. Quite possibly he had suspected that art would interest her, so when he had chosen to not go for her himself, he would subtly try to pave the way for his friend.

"You seem to be very good friends." The blonde said.

"We are... we have been for a long time." Over from the jukebox the music had just switched to 'blue suede shoes', and the popularity of the track could be seen by the onrush of couples to the dance floor. "Say... do you want to dance?" Chrono asked.

"Of course." The British girl replied and extended her hand.

Chrono was a decent dancer, in fact he was probably better than average. He had practiced Rock 'n Roll quite as lot, and even attended a few classes. Thus it was usually him, who was the more experienced on the dance floor. This time was different however.

She was not just a good dancer, she was truly astounding. Every step, every move, every dip, every twist and turn – it seemed like she knew what he wanted to do even before he knew himself. It wasn't even necessary to follow a set pattern or a routine, because she responded instantly and flawlessly. At first it made Chrono a bit nervous that he was going to mess up, but pretty soon he started to relax and enjoy how easy and fun it was to dance with somebody, who was as good as she was. Again the rest of the world became a complete blur, and all Chrono sensed was the blonde beauty gliding and spinning effortlessly across the dance floor. His eyes ventured over her pale skin, which was smooth and flawless, her entire body radiated vigor and sensuality even though she looked lithe and frail. The slit in the pencil skirt allowed for it to lift whenever she did a fast turn, and Chrono had to restrain himself from not looking too much a her milky thighs, in case she might notice. Truly she was an angel in human form.

And all the time her eyes were fixed on him, just as his were fixed on her.

The song ended – too soon for Chrono's taste though – and they made their way off the dance floor again. He saw how the girl's previous pale cheeks now had obtained a healthy blush, which caused her to appear all the more appealing, and also made him aware that he had become quite warm from the dance himself.

"Do you want to go outside?" She asked.

"Yeah let's."

She went first, and Chrono followed her out into the moonlit night.

"Where's your car?" She asked when they had walked a bit away from the house.

"It's just over there. Do you want to see it?"

"Yes please, you did mention that it was something to be envious about." She replied with a little smile.

Chrono couldn't help but laugh. Obviously she had been paying attention to the little 'quarrel' him and Jake had staged. "It's this one."

"It's very nice." She commented.

"Do you want a ride in it?" Chrono couldn't help himself, it was the oldest trick in the book – impress her with a nice car – take her for a little drive to somewhere romantic – see what happens.

"What about your friend? Won't he miss you?" Her expression said that she was hoping for the answer 'no'.

"Nah... don't worry. It's Jake (PUN!). He's got loads of guys he can discuss cars with and tons of girls he can hit on. Hop in." He motioned with his head for her to get in.

"If you say so," she said as she got in. "Well then... let's haul ass hot shot." The remark was laced with obvious sarcastic reference to the drag racing community.

Chrono grinned and got in as well. "Where do you want to go then?"

"How about Baker Beach? It's pretty there."

"You got it." He started the car and pulled out driving westward towards the pacific.

"Are you here for the semester?" Chrono asked as they drove down the road.

"Not really, I'm just... visiting for the summer."

"Oh..." Chrono tried to hide his disappointment. "So you are going back after the summer."

"Yeah..."

Chrono noticed how she suddenly began seeming a bit sad, and berated himself mentally for bringing something up which put a damper on the mood. He would have to come up with something quickly in order to lighten it again. He never got the chance before she spoke however.

"What did it look like? London I mean...?"

"What do you mean? You haven't been to London?"

"Well I have... before the war... before it was bombed."

Ahh... so that was what she had become sad about. "Well it looked pretty good actually, all things considered. I mean when you think about how much was damaged like Buckingham Palace for instance, they have actually done a very good job at restoring most of the city. And everybody seemed quite optimistic about the future and everything, almost as if the sense of purpose people have gotten after the war, has lifted everyone's spirits."

"That's good... so did you like it?"

"What? Being there? That's a stupid question, of course I did." Chrono replied smilingly. He noticed how she had become a little less moody now. He also noticed how she repeatedly looked at him in a way which made him feel really good about himself.

"And you got this car when you got back?" She let her hand run over the dashboard.

"Yeah."

"Your parents must really like you... to give you such a car."

"Yeah. I guess it's only natural though..." Chrono said. "I am kinda the only one they've got."

"You have no siblings?"

"Well... not anymore."

The girl let her gaze settle on his face, with an expression of both concern and interest. "What happened?"

She certainly wasn't afraid of asking personal questions. "I had two brothers once..." Chrono responded. "But they went to war both of them... and didn't come back." He turned to look at her.

"I'm sorry..." she said. "But at least _you_ don't seem like the war-type-of-person."

"Nope. I'm not." Chrono shot her a little smile. "So where do you live? In Wales that is."

"Oh... Cardiff."

"Haven't been there. It's sort of the capital, right?"

"Yes it is."

As the conversation fell a bit silent, Chrono decided that it was time to put on some music, so he turned on the radio. They were almost there anyway.

A few minutes later he pulled over at a designated parking lot where the view was good. Much to his surprise they were not going to stay in the car; the blonde had already stepped out, and was now removing her shoes to allow her to walk better in the sand. "What? You didn't expect to go to the beach and not actually _go_ to the beach?" She asked giving him a curious little smile, evidently her previous playfulness had reemerged.

"No of course not." Chrono replied. "I was just a bit slow, that's all."

As they made their way down to the beach, Chrono wondered if he should offer to hold her hand. That thought too was cut short when she grabbed his presumably for support. "You don't mind, do you?"

Chrono shook his head. No he didn't. Not one single bit.

When they reached the beach she let go of his hand and dashed towards the water. Chrono couldn't help but smile at the seemingly childish enjoyment she found in getting her feet wet.

"Aren't you coming in?" She asked.

"I've still got my shoes and socks on so I'll pass."

"Oh you're no fun." She kicked towards him sending at spray of droplets in his direction.

"HEY!"

That made her giggle.

As they walked along the beach, Chrono couldn't help again but notice how effortlessly she moved about, whether it was on dry land or in the water. In the near darkness it almost looked as if she was floating just a fraction of an inch above the liquid surface, moving like a wispy sylph dancing in a meadow. He became aware that he was staring more and more at her, but he couldn't help it. It was almost as if he was afraid that she would simply disappear, should he look away for too long.

After a little while they found a spot where they could sit with their backs against the cliff and look over the glittering Pacific. The sound of the waves mixed together with the pale lighting to create a scenery which was both breathtaking and slightly eerie.

"Chrono..."

"Yes?"

"Oh... sorry, I was just thinking out out loud. I like your name... Chrono."

"Well, it's not really my name, it's just something which people call me." He shrugged.

"Just something which people calls you?" She replied looking directly at him with an enigmatic smile. "And how is that not your name?"

"Well... I mean it's a nickname. It's not the name I was born with."

"And what is the name you were born with, other than something which your parents decided to call you before they even knew who you were?" She turned her whole body towards him, and leaned a bit forward, effectively making him stare straight into her eyes – something which both drew him in, and intimidated him ever so slightly.

"Uhh... I... don't know really." He half-stuttered.

"How did you get your nickname anyway?"

"I can't really remember... I think I've always been called by my last name... like Crow or Crone. I think maybe someone decided that the rhyme 'Oh-no it's Croh-no' was funny at some point. After that, it kinda stuck... stupid when you think about it, but I was only in elementary at the time."

"And which name do _you_ like the best?" She inquired.

"Hmm... I suppose Chrono."

"So what you're telling me is that even though you like being called Chrono better than your birth name, you still consider your true name to be that which you do not prefer to be called. Couldn't it just as well be, that your birth name is just a word imitating your true name, and the nickname you have gotten later actually is closer to what your actual name should be? After all, they are nothing more than what other people have decided to call you."

"I never really thought about it that way."

"Maybe you should then... or maybe you shouldn't." Again she smiled in that slightly mysterious way which made her both intriguing and irresistible. "But I really like Chrono. It reminds me of time..."

"Like chronology I suppose." The black-haired student responded.

"Mmm... but chronology is not just time..." She leaned a bit back turning her eyes skywards. "It's like... time with a direction... a purpose almost. Without it, time would just be a shapeless confused mass, existing for no reason at all."

"Hmm... I never thought that much about my nickname."

She lowered her gaze towards his again. "You probably shouldn't either... in any case I like it." Now she leaned in towards him again, looking at him with a gaze which made his heart skip a beat or two. "And..." Her face was only inches away now. "I like you."

"Uhh..." Chrono felt like a blathering idiot, but it was almost as if he couldn't comprehend what was happening at this moment.

"I like you..." The girl slowly lifted her left leg over his, allowing herself to sit astride his lap, and her hand moved up to cup his cheek as she brought her own face even closer to his. "A lot..." The words were mere breaths of air.

The college student was physically paralyzed when at first the British blonde let her lips brush slightly across his – this was so much more than he had expected when he had come to the party. More than he had expected even when they had driven off. A phone number perhaps... maybe a date... a name...

A name?

"Wait..." He said gasping for the air he had completely forgotten to breathe.

The girl seemed puzzled that he had broken off the chaste kiss. "What is it...?" She asked with a hint of what could have been nervousness.

"I don't even know... your name."

Her puzzled look quickly shifted to a smile. "Well, you never asked, did you?" She again brought her hand up to the side of his face. "Maggie."

And then she covered his mouth fully with her own.

Chrono had a hard time believing that this was actually happening. He almost suspected that his senses were merely lying to him, and that Jake would wake him from a drunken stupor telling him it was time to go home – the thought scared him more than anything right now, and he quickly sent into the back of his mind. Instead he focused on the feeling of the blonde's deft and slender hands, which were already busy unbuttoning his shirt, while her tongue repeatedly engaged with his own in a sensual struggle of tasting. His own hands found their way under her shirt, and began travelling upwards along her sides. Her skin was unimaginably soft and smooth, and his caressing movements brought a little sound, somewhere in between an amused laugh and a breathy moan, from her lips – she liked it.

Boy was Jake _ever_ wrong about girls who didn't drink alcohol.

Maggie broke off the kiss after she had unbuttoned the four top buttons of the purple shirt. She cast her hair backwards, leaned back, and looked at Chrono through half-lidded eyes. An expectant smile was on her lips, and her tongue crossed over them in a seductive lick. Slowly she allowed her hands to slide underneath his shirt and travel all the way to the back of his shoulders. Then with a quick and smooth movement she forced the shirt and jacket down midway to Chrono's upper arms exposing his slightly tan shoulders and chest to the pale moonlight.

This night had very quickly gone from romantic to downright lustful... not that he had any complaints.

According to Maggie's expression after pulling down his shirt, she liked what she saw, making Chrono give himself a mental pat on the back for keeping his body in shape. She let her hands and eyes skim over the toned upper body before closing the distance between them again. This time the blonde did not let her mouth encounter his however. Instead she went straight for his chest, tracing a path with her lips, tongue, and teeth from the middle of his pectoral muscle up to the tender skin where his right shoulder met his neck. Chrono found it increasingly difficult to gather his thoughts. His own hands began moving out of pure reflex, and he was very quickly heading for an overload of the senses. As she began kissing his neck, his world seemed to vanish in a haze of pleasure, where all he could feel was the indescribable sensation of this angel encircling him in her arms. Pretty soon he lost all focus of where he was, and what he was even doing. His muscles moved without any guidance whatsoever, and his mind sank deeper and deeper into blissful rapture...

There was no doubt as to what Maggie thought of him.

He was most definitely good looking.

But then again... she preferred them that way.

Some would consider her to be picky – she merely thought of herself as having standards.

She would go to great lengths, to get a hold of someone she considered to be good looking, since she detested having to settle for someone ugly. She liked men best, although women were an acceptable alternative. Just as long as they were not ugly. So Maggie was glad that tonight she had found someone who was not only male but also good looking – _very _good looking even – according to her.

But somehow he was more than that.

There was something about him, something which made her feel.

She dug her fingers hungrily into his back, inhaling deeply... she really liked his smell. And the taste of him on her tongue caused an intense feeling to course through her, a feeling she couldn't quite define, a feeling which almost could be said to awaken something within her. She might have felt it a bit already when she spotted him at the party – right when she had decided that he would be hers tonight. But whether or not she had felt it earlier, she could definitely feel it now – and it was sweeter than she could possibly have imagined. He almost tasted too good, and she was unable to remove her mouth from the spot between his shoulder and neck, as if it had been glued in place. His hands were still traveling across her skin, and they too sent shivers of pleasure through her, as if her body was somehow more sensitive to his touch – and his touch alone. A soft moan escaped her lips as she delved deeper into the sensation of him, tightening her grip, pressing her body even closer to his. She couldn't fight it, the feeling overwhelmed her completely and she desperately didn't want it to end.

She wanted more... craved more... needed more...

Then suddenly... there was no more.

No more.

Hesitantly Maggie's lips moved away from Chrono's skin, revealing four puncture wounds into his flesh. Her tongue instinctively traced over the wounds, and they closed immediately afterwards. She leaned away from his chest, tilted her head backwards, and a sound somewhere between a hiss of ecstasy and an ethereal breath escaped her parted lips. A little droplet of dark crimson liquid fell down from one of her now elongated and exposed canines which were gleaming brilliantly in the pale moonlight. The droplet encountered her tongue and was quickly swallowed. Her eyes were closed as she reveled in the sensation, her hands were tightly gripping the black-haired man's shoulders, and her body trembled.

Almost half a minute passed before Maggie began opening her eyes again, trying to get them to focus through the massive amount of pleasure his blood had given her – and was still giving her. It felt even better than her very first time feeding... and that was supposedly impossible. It had been so good that she hadn't even been able to make herself stop. Only after the artery was completely dry and empty, had she regained enough control over her body, to wrest herself from him.

_'Dry and empty...?'_

Immediately her vision cleared, and she was forcefully dragged back to reality as her senses returned. She got off the limp body of the guy who had driven her to the beach, grabbed his arm, and tried to feel for a pulse...

_'Stupid...'_

Of course there would be no pulse. There was no blood in his veins anymore. She had taken every last drop. She had...

_'Oh no!'_

A surprised expression of disbelief was painted across her face, and she covered her mouth with her hands. Her shocked eyes stared at the rapidly cooling body in front of her and she shook her head helplessly. This wasn't supposed to have happened. It should just have been an ordinary night. Just like all the rest.

But tonight had been far from ordinary.

Tonight she had done something she had never done before.

Tonight she had killed while feeding.

_'Killed...'_

She was no killer. She never had been. In all the years of her unlife... all the humans she had fed from... it had _never_ happened before. And why... oh god _why_... why did it have to be _him?_ She hadn't meant to hurt him. She actually really liked him. She hadn't lied when she said so. That was why she had delayed, why she had talked with him for so long. So why couldn't she just have controlled herself?

She didn't want to be a killer.

That was a bit too late now.

She didn't want him to die.

That... she could do something about.

Maggie looked at the body of the art student in front of her, and with a mental nod to herself she made her right index finger elongate into a short claw. She used the claw to pierce her left wrist, and dragged it 2 inches towards her elbow, opening up a fissure in her arm. She then pulled the Black-haired guy over to her, rested his head in her lap, and brought the wound on her wrist in contact with his mouth. She had to will the first ounces of blood out of the arm – effectively pouring it into him – since he obviously couldn't drink himself. After only a few seconds however, she felt how the instincts of the blood took control of his seemingly dead body, and as he slowly began to drink the rich liquid, Maggie recalled what he had said about his brothers. It made her smile a bit sadly.

"I'm really sorry about all this... Chrono. I really am."

The two figures were bathed in an almost ghostlike glow, and from a distance it could have looked like a romantic scene from a gothic fairytale: A blonde girl and a black-haired guy – all alone on a desolate beach, the steady beat of crashing waves being the only sound, the shining moon and the shimmering reflection from the black sea being the only light. The girl holding the unconscious guy close, cradling him in her lap, stroking his hair to the rhythm of the ocean.

After a short while she sensed that he would not need any more, and she removed her wrist from his mouth, letting her healing powers close the wound in her arm, leaving no trace of injury. The sun would be up shortly so she had to hurry now... cursed summer nights. She scooped the man, who was at least 6 inches taller and 40 pounds heavier than herself, up into her arms and began carrying him effortlessly back the way they had come from. With inhuman grace and speed she made her way back up to the car, covering the last twenty feet in a single leap, from which she descended onto the drivers seat without making a sound. She gently placed Chrono in the passenger side, brushing aside a few locks of blackish hair which had gotten into his face. He was already starting to twitch now... pretty soon he would moan in pain, and after that he would scream in agony as her blood would force his body to transform. She had to get back before it happened – it would draw too much attention.

A few seconds of searching through his pockets, produced a set of car keys. With a quick look at her unconscious passenger, she started the engine, pulled out of the parking area, and drove towards her haven, disregarding the speed limit.

Had she paid more attention to what it was, she had been feeling earlier, she would have been shocked. Shocked because she would have noticed that her heart was beating forcefully. Shocked because it had continued beating on its own up until shortly before she reached the car. Shocked because her heart had otherwise been completely still for decades.

Ever since her own embrace, more than forty years ago.

* * *

Ok... so how many believed that the blonde was a terribly OOC Rosette?

Anyway hope you liked this first chapter, and that it was clear what actually happened on that beach. Regarding names I will generally change them slightly from their original ones in the anime (keeping the original name means that the person is the exact same person as in the anime and not just a reincarnated or 'parallel' character). For instance, I couldn't convince myself that any (reasonably sane) person would actually name their child Chrono or Chrno, so I decided to to give him a name which mimicked it so closely, that he would obtain a nickname which eventually would push aside his given name. As for...

Rosette: (shoving author aside) SHUT UP with all that author crap! WHERE'S THE BITCH!

Magdalene: Looking for me?

Rosette: What the HELL did you DO to him?

Magdalene: Nothing really... I just took him... and made him mine.

Rosette: WHAT? You can't do that!

Magdalene: I think I can. And as far as I know, you're not even in this story yet, so you really don't have a say in the matter.

Rosette: SHUT UP! What do you plan to do with him anyway?

Magdalene: Oh I dunno... there are lots of things I could think of... I did say once to him that he 'filled up the empty container that is me'... You're a big girl... I suppose you can figure out what that could imply.

Rosette: WHAT?! YOU SLUT!!

Magdalene: Oh look who's talking little miss 'I-am-bitch-in-heat, hear-me-bark'.

Rosette YOU'RE DEAD!

Magdalene: HEY! Get OFF me you little creep!

Rosette: Make me... WHORE!

Magdalene: Let GO of MY HAIR you piece of trailer park white trash!

Rosette: BITE ME!

Magdalene: Oh... I'm gonna!

Rosette: AUUW! You piece of SHIT!

Chrno: Ladies... ladies... calm down, please.

Rosette: Stay outta this Chrno.

Magdalene: Yeah this doesn't concern you.

Chrno: Uhhh... What? It looks to me like it does.

Rosette: Well stay out of it anyway, I'm just about to send this skinny skank packing.

Magdalene: Hah, you just don't know when you've lost, do you?

Chrno: No seriously... There's no need for you to fight like this.

Rosette: Like hell...

Chrno: I mean it.

Magdalene: And what do you propose then?

Chrno: Well... It should be clear by now that I love both of you...

Rosette/Magdalene: WHAT?!

Chrno: It's true... I do, and obviously you both love me... and given that we _should_ be able to come to some form of arrangAUUW!

Rosette: OH you'd like that HUH? YOU PERVERT! A little 'Menage a Trois'? Is that it?

Chrno: AUW! GEEZ! CUT IT OUT!

Magdalene: Give him a couple from me too.

Chrno: Shit, I'm outta here! (hides)

Rosette: I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!

Magdalene: Apparently not, and you know what? Neither am I – and there's not a thing you can do about it little missy.

Rosette: We'll see about that.

Magdalene: I'm leaving, this is going nowhere.(leaving)

Rosette: Cunt. (leaving too)

Chrno: (comes out of hiding) Damn... (Turns to look at outraged fans and CxR supporters) Oh lay off, will ya? I'm a guy. I had to at least try. (leaving also)

Ok they're gone now...

But seriously getting characters like this to behave is just such a hassle. And all I ever get from them are complaints and things like:

'Daisuke gave us a three hour lunch break.'

'Daisuke only made us work two days a week.'

'Daisuke used to tap dance in a pink bra and miniskirt to make us laugh.'

Well If you've read the disclaimer, you would know that I am NOT Daisuke Moriyama. Keeping fictional characters in line is just not worth the effort sometimes (sigh) – except that reviews can make almost anything worthwhile.


	3. 1,2: Awaken Chrono

Hello again everyone. Here's the second chapter of my anime-continuation story, and yes it will be a vampire story, as you have probably already guessed. You may consider that to be AU but I like to think more of it as AT (Alternate time), as I see no problem with a demon being reincarnated in a human body – especially not a demon like Chrno. But of course keeping the guy human would be too boring. This fic will try to blend together CC with the world made for White Wolf's 'Vampire: The Masquerade' games and books, and as such I cannot take credit for all the details regarding vampires.

Also I wish to say, that I have experienced a staggering revelation. After careful consideration and much contemplation, it has now become evident to me that I am utterly and totally incapable of abbreviating the title of a story. I may be able to write somewhat decently (or so I've been led to believe), I may be studying at a university, and I may also have managed to teach a bit. But give me three words, ask me to write down the first letter of each word in consecutive order – sorry... can't do it, not without messing it up at least. I am of course talking about the apparent brain malfunction which has caused me to refer to my first story as TCC (don't ask... I have absolutely no idea whatsoever) and not TCK. For those of you that have read the author notes in question, I sincerely hope that it hasn't caused too much confusion, and if it did... well... sorry about that...

So while you hopefully go on to reading (and maybe even reviewing) this chapter, I'll do something constructive, like practice the alphabet song – who knows, I might even learn something.

And not to forget... a great big thanks to you who have already reviewed this story, it is what motivates to write faster you know.

Disclaimer: I don't own either the CC anime, the CC manga, any of the characters, or anything which is the intellectual property of White Wolf (These disclaimers just gets worse and worse... sob).

Finally if you are familiar with 'Vampire: The Masquerade' you will certainly recognize a lot of things, and you may also frown upon me since I might change aspects of the setting to suit the story.

For those of you that are not familiar with that setting – I bid you a very warm welcome... to the **World of Darkness... **Muahahaha... (Leans too far backwards and falls off his chair).

* * *

Legend:

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

EXCLAMATION!

* * *

Smell...

"_...but I never planned for it to happen."_

The smell is strong... overpowering... as if it is a physical object. Able to be touched... to be felt...

"_Still... he _is_ a looker. I probably would have embraced him too, if it had been me."_

There are many smells... rich deep mahogany wood... clean beddings... other types of wood like oak and cherry...

"_Yeah well... it wasn't you, it was me."_

Also the smell of marble... though the smell doesn't seem to originate from a large thing like a table... more like several smaller objects... and the smell of oil colors... that would be paintings...

"_In any case, what's done is done. But if you don't feel like showing him the ropes, I won't mind filling in for you."_

The smell of another fabric... it smells as if the scent comes from a wide surface... curtains maybe?

"_I'm sure you wouldn't. But I did this, and I won't run away from my responsibility."_

The smell of a piquant perfume... Chanel no. 5...?

"_You always live up to your so-called duty, don't you?"_

There's another more 'flowery' scent... jasmine most likely.

"_Call it what you will... I'm not going to abandon him like this."_

That voice... it's nice... it's filled with a sincerity which is reassuring.

"_Hmm... I think he's about to wake up soon. I'd better be going then. Just remember to go see Dom as soon as possible. You know how the Camarilla reacts to an 'unsanctioned embrace'."_

Rustling sound of clothes... probably someone putting on a jacket.

"_I will."_

A slightly creaking sound, must be a door opening...

"_Good luck."_

"_Thanks."_

The smacking sound implies that the door is closed again. The piquant perfume is receding leaving only the flowery one. The soft sound of gentle footsteps becomes louder. Again there's a creaking sound – must mean that another door opens. The sound is followed by a strengthening odor of jasmine. Another scent is there, barely camouflaged by the first. A sound of rustling textile – the world tips slightly. A sensation of touch on the cheek... soft and smooth. The smell of flowers is everywhere now. The other smell is just beneath it – it is very strong now also.

It's a good smell.

It's a comforting smell.

It's a smell which reveals an identity.

Maggie.

"_Wakey, wakey handsome..."

* * *

_

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Chapter 2 – Awaken... Chrono.

* * *

Chrono awoke instantly, as if he had been switched on. He immediately rose and sat up straight in the large bed he had been lying in. Looking around, he could now see where he was. The bedroom was fairly large and inviting, even in the pale light which made it's way through the wispy curtains blowing in the cool night wind. The bed was made of mahogany and so were a lot of the other bedroom furnishing. Several small tables were situated in a manner which was pleasing to the eye around the room. Marble Statuettes adorned the small tables – all depicting nude humans in the classical contraposto stance, indicating that the owner liked ancient Greek art. The walls were lined with numerous paintings too... some of them quite famous like 'Impression, Sunrise' by Monet and 'The Scream' by Munch. The soft blueish moonlight had drained all color from the room, and the surreal angst of the latter painting was enhanced by the monochrome illumination.

"How do you feel?"

In response to the voice, Chrono immediately looked to his right and into the blue eyes of a beautiful blonde girl. He recognized her right away. She was the girl he had gone to the beach with that night at the party. They had talked for a while and then... he couldn't really remember what had happened after that. Strange... he didn't have that much to drink... in fact he had almost nothing... or did he?

"Maggie...?"

"At least you remember my name. That must mean that you haven't lost your mind at least." She replied teasingly, before her expression turned a bit more serious again. "So... how do you feel?"

How did he feel?

That was a very good question.

In short, he felt alright.

No. Scratch that.

He felt great!

His body felt extremely good, as if it had somehow become impervious to discomfort. His mind was very clear too, and his sense of perception seemed to have increased a hundredfold from what he could remember. He could literally feel the individual seams in the bedding. He could pick out every single scent in the room and discern where it came from within seconds. He could hear sounds of various animals and insects, and he could accurately determine how far away they were. A small fly flew past his vision and instantly – as if to test himself – his hand shot out and closed around it. He looked at his hand for a few seconds before he opened it again, allowing the little fly to escape unscathed from its temporary capture.

Yeah he felt pretty damn good.

There was a nagging feeling inside of him though, and he could really go for a nicely grilled one-pound steak, preferably with a large side order of potatoes, vegetables and... actually come to think of it he was extremely hungry – and thirsty too.

"I... I feel fine... but I'm quite hungry actually." Chrono finally responded.

Maggie's face brightened a bit, as if she had been reassured of something. "It's not strange that you do. You haven't eaten for quite a while... come here." She shifted her position a bit, so she was now facing him, and motioned for him to move closer.

Chrono didn't understand what he was supposed to do, what had happened, or what was even going on right now – it all seemed as part of a surreal fantasy, except that it was so real.

"Lean against me."

But he was also too baffled to make any independent decisions right now, so he just did what he was told, although allowing himself to lean back into her arms made him feel a bit like a child.

The blonde brought her wrist towards his mouth, and now the smell became almost excruciatingly sweet. It was not just the smell of her skin... it was the smell of what was beneath the skin. Warm... rich... nourishing... it was all he needed, all he wanted right now. He inhaled deeply, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and his mouth moved closer towards the smooth pale skin; towards the scent which promised so much satisfaction. He brought his lips into contact with her delicate wrist, in what could almost appear to be a kiss, before opening his mouth and barring his teeth for the bite...

Suddenly Chrono jumped up and out of the blonde girls arms, nearly slamming into the wall at the end of the bed. His posture resembled that of a cornered animal, and disbelief was evident in his stupefied expression.

"What... why...?" He started babbling without being able to formulate his thoughts into a comprehensible question.

"You will have to do it sooner or later." The blonde girl said. "And it is better to do it now, than to wait until the hunger forces you to." She began moving slowly closer to an apparently petrified Chrono. "But maybe you don't like drinking from the wrist... I know, it does seem awfully patronizing, doesn't it?" She slowly undid the top button of her shirt pulling it a bit down as to expose her left shoulder. "You can do it here..." She leaned towards him, while marking a spot between her neck and shoulder with her index finger. "I won't mind."

Chrono suddenly felt like a teenage virgin, caught in the clutches of a much more experienced and quite promiscuous older woman. The milky smoothness of Maggie's shoulder looked so amazingly inviting, that it took all of his restraint not to jump forward and sink his teeth into it.

At the same time the thought of doing that scared him immensely, and it made him want to run away and hide.

The combination of wanting to flee and leap forward, rendered him utterly incapable of physical motion, and Chrono simply ended up paralyzed in a frightened stupor, while the girl moved ever closer to him, trapping him between herself and the wall.

"Chrono... you shouldn't try to fight it... it will only become worse." Maggie said with obvious concern in her voice.

The voice was alluring to say the least. And the still exposed skin of Maggie's shoulder was beckoning him with a force, he would not be able to resist for long. Slowly Chrono moved forward again as his tongue skimmed across his teeth...

_'What...'_

His teeth were definitely different from what they used to be.

In fact his canines were probably a decent half inch longer than normal.

_'What the hell's happening?'_

Without as much as a second thought Chrono pushed her back, leaped from the bed, and stormed out of the room. With an inhuman intuition he ran for the bathroom, as if he knew were it was already. He dashed through the door, flipping on the light switch, and came to a halt before the sink. Above the sink was a mirror...

And this time the shock hit with full impact.

The guy in the mirror was him alright, but it was not himself. Not the way he remembered himself. His face had paled. It still held his tan, but the healthy warm color of life had somehow left it. His features had become more chiseled too, as if any trace of rounded cheeks had been removed. The three birthmarks in his forehead had become more pronounced, and they now appeared to shine with a soft inner light of their own. His ears had grown what might have been a full inch or two in length, and were bordering on animalistic, looking like something from a fairytale. His hair was no longer black but a rich purple, as if he had simply dipped his head in a bucket of paint. His eyes had slanted even more than before and they were no longer brown either. They were now a deep crimson, and his pupils had changed to oblong vertical slits inside them. He tried looking closer at the red orbs staring back at him, and to his amazement he discovered that he could see incredibly fine details – little twirls and shifting contours that kept changing within his eyes. It was almost as if he could zoom in by mere force of will, and his pupils changed their shape slightly too when he did it...

"You've changed after becoming a vampire."

Chrono turned his head to see Maggie standing in the open door. He briefly wondered how long she had been there watching him – probably the whole time he had been watching himself.

"Some say that during the transformation, that which has been lying dormant within oneself is brought out physically in the newly embraced." She began walking towards him with the little playful smile that made her so irresistible. "But don't say that to a Nosferatu, he will most likely take it as an insult."

"Nosferatu...?" Chrono asked. "Vampire...?"

"Yes... vampire. Or at least that is what humans call us." She waited a bit to see his reaction.

"But... that's impossible! Vampires don't exist, they're just myth!" Chrono exclaimed.

"Chrono..." Maggie interrupted.

"DON'T! Don't come closer. I don't know who you are, but you obviously need help! You're talking about vampires like they're real! You want me to drink your blood! You drugged me! You dyed my hair!"

"Chrono."

"STOP right there!"

"You're breathing."

"What?"

"I said that you are breathing... stop it."

"What? I can't do that."

"Sure you can... just take a deep breath, and calm down."

The girl had a point about him being agitated, maybe she was a complete loony, but a strange reassuring quality in her voice made him want to do as she asked – he needed to calm down. So Chrono took a deep breath and held it...

In fact, he held it for quite some time.

Actually he never felt the need to let it out and draw in another, and he had never been any good at holding his breath. This was simply not... natural.

"Humans need to think consciously about it in order to stop breathing." Maggie said after a while, when she could see the change in his expression. He was beginning to realize that he wasn't exactly what one would call 'ordinary' anymore. "We, on the other hand, need to think consciously about it in order to draw breath."

"But..." Chrono exhaled and looked back in the mirror. "Are you saying... that I'm a... vampire?"

"Yes... that is what I am saying. Or at least that is what a human would call you. We refer to ourselves as Kindred. We have been here for as long as humans have, and the Nosferatu I mentioned before are but one kind of Kindred. Although not the most pleasant kind, if you ask me. So whether or not you believe it, that is what you are now."

Chrono almost felt a hint of shame in her words as she said it, but his mind was too preoccupied to actively register it. Instead he again looked at the image of his transformed self with a newfound awe. He really had changed, and he wasn't sure that the change was so bad. He flexed his neck studying how the muscles expanded and contracted. It was as if he could almost see how they had grown stronger.

"Chrono." Maggie moved next to him putting a hand on his shoulder. "You really need to feed."

_'Feed?'_ The word rang through his mind in an unfamiliar way. _'Oh... right.'_

"But, I don't want to drink blood! I can't go around killing people for God's sake!" Chrono replied quickly

Now Maggie laughed. Not a forced or fake laugh, but one of those genuine giggles which simply bursts its way out whenever somebody says something really stupid.

"What? What's so funny"

"You. You're cute when you're acting silly." She gave him a slight nudge. "Chrono, nobody is forcing you to kill anything. All you need to do, is simply stop youself from feeding, and leave the human with enough blood to survive. They won't suffer anything more than a few days weakness from the loss of blood."

"Oh..." Chrono felt fairly dumb.

"Besides..." Maggie continued. "It is not allowed to kill humans by feeding."

"Not allowed?"

"That's right. It is also not allowed to bar your teeth in public or show any display of superhuman abilities. Keeping our identity secret is the reason we can coexist with humans, it is the reason why you didn't know any of this until now."

Maggie's words began to make sense, although it was still quite a lot for the poor college student to comprehend. "So... what am I supposed to do?"

"Come here." She beckoned, as she again pulled at her shirt, exposing her left shoulder. "You can feed from me." She then closed the distance in between them and wrapped her right arm around his back.

Chrono's eyes locked on the spot between the girl's slender neck and her delicate shoulder, he could literally feel how his teeth elongated, as his arms wrapped around the smaller form of the female vampire. His eyes burned with a fierce blaze, and he inhaled deeply, allowing the sweet smell of Maggie's skin and blood to enter and course through him. "No, wait!"

"What's wrong?"

"I can't..."

"Chrono," Maggie said encouragingly. "You _have_ to do this. Please, just listen to your instincts. I promise that you are not going to hurt me."

"But..."

Chrono felt how her hand moved up to the back of his head, gently pushing him forward. The space between his mouth and her skin slowly closed, and his mouth opened to cover her shoulder like a reflex that could not be fought. Maggie gently stroked the back of his neck. "I'm waiting for you, tiger." It was all the encouragement he needed.

With primal instincts, his teeth forced their way into the vampiress, penetrating the tender flesh. A small gasp escaped her lips and she closed her eyes, letting herself sink into the feeling of being fed upon. When Chrono's teeth reached the blood, a forceful wave of pleasure shot all the way through him, almost as if the teeth themselves had nerves at their tip, nerves which only responded to the red liquid. Not knowing how he actually did it, but doing it as if he had done it a thousand times before, he sucked the sweet drink out of the rich stream and into his own barren self. It was like a ten course meal after weeks of starvation, gallons of the purest water after having walked through a blistering desert, drawing a deep breath after having been forcefully suffocated. It was every physical need his body craved and wanted, packed into a single luxurious liquid that was like food for the gods themselves.

"That's... enough." Maggie said breathlessly as she pushed his head away from her shoulder again.

Chrono didn't want to stop, and right now he had virtually no control over his own body. His vision was clouded in a sweet red haze, and he could feel how Maggie's blood flowed through him, revitalizing him, strengthening him. His heart beat faster, his muscles tensed, his senses were hopelessly overworked, and his mind had shut down a long time ago.

When he finally began to regain his vision, he was sitting on the bathroom floor with his head resting on Maggie's chest, her hand stroking through his hair. "Wow..."

"That good, huh?" She asked with a bit of amusement, and a hint of personal satisfaction.

Chrono quickly got to his feet. His body was bubbling over with newfound strength, and he felt better than he had ever felt before. All of the energy inside him was screaming, begging to be used. He had an uncanny urge to go outside and beat a few world records in various Olympic disciplines, just because he knew that he could. "Better..." He gave the blonde vampiress a sincere smile and extended his hand in a gesture to help her up.

"Well, I'm glad that you liked it." She grabbed the hand and got up as well. "Because you won't be able to switch diet."

"What now?" Chrono asked. He literally felt like a kid in an amusement park. All thoughts of his previous life had temporarily left him, and now he just wanted to go do something... anything.

"Now?" Maggie said. "Now, you need to get dressed, because we're going to visit someone."

Chrono looked at himself and realized that he was still in his underwear. Had he been human he would probably have blushed, but instead he rushed towards the bedroom again, and got dressed within seconds.

As Maggie walked towards the hall a smile graced her lips – she couldn't help but be affected by his enthusiasm. He was so lively and energetic, something which made her feel strangely warm and tingly. She found that she really liked seeing him happy.

But it also made her a bit sad, when she contemplated what the condition of vampirism would do to him in the long run. Some became apathetic or inhumanly arrogant because of their immortality. Even worse... some fell victim to the beast. Well, she was going to try to prevent that it would happen to him at least.

"I'm ready." Chrono approached her smilingly. He was dressed in the drape jacket and jeans outfit he had worn at the party the other night. Even though it was the same clothes she had seen him in before, she still couldn't help being a bit taken aback at how he looked when he wore them. She realized that she considered him even more handsome than before his transformation. There was something extremely exotic about him with the elven ears, the purple hair and the fiery eyes. The clothes suited him perfectly too, and also served to bring back nice memories from her own life. A part of her was almost pleased with her accidental embrace of this man.

"Let's go then 'Teddy Boy'."

Chrono smiled a bit wider, as he walked towards the front door and opened it in a very gentlemanly way, allowing Maggie to go through first.

Outside the newly embraced vampire became pleasantly surprised when he saw his car parked neatly in the driveway, since he had almost forgotten about it. Chrono really wanted to test his new strength – maybe he could even jump all the way from where he was to the car. He decided to make a leap for it. In fact he ended up using too much force, and had to turn in mid-air in order to land on his feet again, which he did – 20 feet behind the car.

Maggie rolled her eyes at the enjoyment he found in his new condition. But she guessed it was only natural for him to act this way. Luckily nobody was watching right now. He needed to settle down before they got closer to the city center though. She opened the door to the passenger side and got in. Chrono jumped in as well. He was about to start the car, when he realized something he had forgotten.

"You'll be needing these." Maggie said waving the car keys in front of him with a teasing smile.

"Right..." He responded as the keys were handed to him. "So where is it exactly we're going?" In a strange way this almost felt like the other night.

"Downtown..." Maggie said as the engine started and the car began driving onto the dimly lit road. "We're going to see the Baron."

* * *

And that concludes the second chapter. A shorter one than the first... but a shorter update time too, so I suppose it's alright.

A little info about the term 'Teddy boys'. This was the name of a British Rock 'n Roll youth culture which started in the early fifties. The name Teddy comes from Edward and refers to the style of clothes (the drape jacket etc.) which mimics what people wore during the Edwardian period (during the reign of Edward VII), which was the very beginning of the 20'th century. This explains why Maggie likes his clothes, because if she was around twenty at the time of her own embrace, she would have been a young girl during the Edwardian period. Thus Chrono's clothes might remind her of some childhood memories she's fond of.

So until next time... have a nice day (or night), and please drop a review.


	4. 1,3: Baron of San Francisco

Author's uttering:

Got another chapter done... I must be inspired or something. There's really not much I want to say other than enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Chrno Crusade or any other settings that I'm currently stealing from, but have no fear... the hordes of minions and servitors at my disposal are working tirelessly 27 hours a day (due to temporal distortion) to rectify this completely unacceptable situation.

* * *

Legend:

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

EXCLAMATION!

* * *

_'Fucking boring...'_

That's the only way to describe it.

At this moment I'm flying 'merrily' above the Oakland Bay Bridge of San Francisco, like some bloody Tinkerbell. Out of sight, out of reach, looking... following.

"_It's your job to keep watch."_

_'Bah... shut up, or I'll make sure you'll never be able to use your eyes again.'_

"_You are the best suited for this task – therefore you do it."_

_'Oh brilliant, Einstein. Did you come up with that yourself, or did someone who once read a book tell you to say that.'_

"_The Nosferatu are the eyes and ears of our society, they are the natural spies, and you are a Nosferatu."_

_'A Nosferatu? Gee, I didn't know. I mean, it's not like every god damn mirror doesn't shout it right in my putrid face whenever I happen to look at myself. Thanks a lot for pointing out my rotten clan to me, now would you please get out of my sight before the urge to tear off my own skin and shove it down your throat grows any stronger.'_

My feeble attempt to pass time by bickering to myself fails – the assignment is still excruciatingly tedious.

I make a swoop downwards in order to gain some speed. I need to keep up with the red car and the two perpetrators in it. The little beauty queen is supposedly quite the perceptive one, which is the reason why my coterie hasn't tagged along on this little excursion. I'm the only one who can effectively hide my presence and therefore I'm the only one following them. I still have to stay at a safe distance, since I don't know how keen her senses really are. There are those among us who can detect me even when I'm using my powers, but so far she hasn't noticed me. Besides she seems a bit preoccupied with the guy she has embraced – almost like she's infatuated.

_'Betcha liked it too. Didn't you little bitch? Sucking all that sweet blood out of him... hoping the stream would be endless. Betcha didn't even plan on this either. It probably just happened. A little snack you just couldn't stop eating. Betcha thought you'd get an orgasm if you just kept sucking on him you little whore.'_

The car has crossed the bridge and continues down the eighty. If they keep to this road they will be driving out of the city soon enough.

_'Well, here's hoping that you try to make a run for it. You might be a no go in here, but should leave the city limits, then it's nighty-night for good. A couple of stakes is all it takes, and then I will get to taste just how good that blood was. But I bet yours is even sweeter. A pretty little container like you, has to hold some tasty contents. I just need to make sure you go down first little doll. The fledgling will be no problem on his own.'_

The car drives off the freeway and turns northwards towards the financial district, I flap my wings once and continue gliding after the vehicle.

_'Crap...'_

It was probably too much to hope for anyway, after all this was only supposed to be a reconnaissance mission. I would have liked to bring final death to both of them at the first given opportunity, but the Baron has explicitly requested no Camarilla interference if they were to come see him right away. Obviously they have made the sensible choice – making my night even more miserable.

The car soon finds its way to the district, and pulls over at the corner between Merchant and Montgomery. I land on a nearby rooftop, making sure that they go inside – which they do. The streets are empty and silent now, and I've done my task. Nothing left but to take off again.

_'Dammit...'_

All this flying around in bat form for absolutely nothing.

Just like I said...

_'Fucking boring.'

* * *

_

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Chapter 3 – Baron of San Francisco.

* * *

Chrono and Maggie were greeted in the doorway by two well-dressed men who looked a bit like a mixture between security guards and stockbrokers. They were both wearing conservative dark grey suits and hats, both had a pale complexion and neither of them drew breath.

"Come inside... you are expected."

Chrono felt a distinct tension in the air, almost as if he was on his way to an exam or a job interview, and it was already beginning to annoy the young purple haired vampire. He wondered if Maggie felt the same way, but her expression revealed no apprehension at all. They were led down a short hall and into what might be characterized as a waiting room. It was very nicely furnished with expensive leather couches, paintings, vases etc. Maggie had briefly told Chrono about the Baron, and that he was some sort of regional authority. Obviously it was a job which payed off.

"Wait here. The Baron will see you shortly."

Maggie merely nodded and went to sit down on the couch. What was this... a bloody audience?

The two men left the room again the way they had come, leaving only the two newly arrived.

"What the hell is all this about?" Chrono asked as soon as their 'chaperones' had closed the door behind them.

The vampiress gave him a short look saying that such outbursts might not be the best idea right now. She softened her expression quickly though. "It's only formalities. Don't worry about it, we'll be out of here again soon." Something in her voice revealed that she wasn't being completely truthful, but she masked it with a smile. "Just let me do the talking, ok?"

Chrono wasn't completely satisfied with that answer, but the uneasiness he felt told him that it would not be wise to do anything radical now. He went to sit down beside the blonde girl, who seemed a bit lost in thought now. A million different things rummaged inside his own head too, as he quietly studied his sire.

_'Sire... and childe.'_

She had told him that, in terms of vampire lingo, this was what they were now – like family almost. But he somehow felt she was more to him than that. That which he had felt when he first saw her, that which he had felt at the beach, that which he had felt when she had allowed him to feed from her. It must count for something... right? But she was still a mystery. Everything she had told about herself could have been lies – he really had no way of knowing. Then again it didn't really matter, since she virtually hadn't told him anything. His thoughts returned to the other night... the party... the dance... her suggestion about going outside... the car ride... the walk on the beach and the... had she planned it all? Had she somehow caused him to like her? Had she chosen in advance... for him to become one of her kind? What was going to happen to him now? Did this baron have anything to do with...

"...been dealt with, but nevertheless it is still the second time this year somebody saw him and notified the press."

Chrono's thoughts were broken by the sound of an even and calm male voice coming from the next room. He shifted his ears a bit so he could better hear it – his senses really had become keen.

"I do _not_ care for what he wants. He is _not_ some average person, and in the eyes of the public he has been dead for over one and a half year. If this continues, we will all have the Camarilla biting down our necks before you can say 'masquerade violation'. Since I do not wish this for myself, I will take the necessary actions so that it will not come to pass. Do I make myself clear?"

It was the same voice, and the pauses in between indicated that whoever was speaking was talking on the phone.

"You are wrong. The agreement was to give him _one_ life after death. That has already been fulfilled, and as such he does _not_ have any special rights anymore. If you would please relay this to Mr. Dean so that he understands, I will be most appreciative."

Chrono felt a hand grip his own and turned to look at Maggie.

"I think we will be led in shortly." She said with a reassuring smile. "Are you ready?"

Chrono nodded.

A few seconds later the heavy wooden doors at the end of the room opened and a large man from the other side motioned for them to come inside. Maggie got up and Chrono followed half a step behind. The office on the other side was even more richly furnished, with an almost obscene abundance of paintings and decorations, a full-sized statue in each corner, expensive furniture, and a chandelier to give light. The large man went to stand beside a heavy looking and intricately adorned ebony desk – or maybe large was an understatement. He was a mountain of man – well over six feet tall, and probably an almost equal length around his chest. His arms and legs resembled tree trunks, and his hands were nearly the size of dinner plates. On top of the titanic torso, planted directly upon his shoulders, with no visible neck in between, was a shaved head which mostly resembled a billiard ball. His face was unusually small, his forehead was overly large, his eyes were close together, and his nose curved upwards making it appear more like a snout. He looked like an animal in human form – a half-man half-boar who could eat bricks and juggle family sedans.

Behind the desk sat another and far more normally proportioned man. He was dressed in an expensive looking dark suit with matching tie. His face was gaunt and dignified, his hair was black, and he had a well trimmed beard on his chin, which his right hand kept rummaging through. His physical strength seemed clearly inferior to that of the oversized pig-man standing next to the desk, but an unearthly aura of power emanated from him, making him appear far more intimidating. He eyed Chrono and Maggie shortly with a little amused smile, as he yanked a few hairs out of his beard. The hairs were held shortly between two fingers before they were sent flying with a small blow of air from their owner.

The black haired man rose from behind the desk and began walking towards the two visitors, closely followed by the half-giant. Chrono was a bit taken aback when the gaunt vampire stood up – was everybody in here at least six and a half feet tall?

"Ahh... the ever beautiful miss Maggie." It was the same voice as the one earlier on the phone. "As always, a pleasure to the eyes." He extended his hand with palm upwards, allowing the vampiress to place hers on top of his, so he could greet her with a knightly kiss to the back of her hand. The gesture didn't exactly please Chrono.

"Baron Dufaux." Maggie said with a monotone respect in her voice.

"Please... call me Dom." He replied with a smile. "And you must be the prodigal childe." He turned to look a Chrono. "I must admit I have been anxious to meet you. It certainly is... interesting and a bit ironic... the circumstances under which you have joined our ranks." He extended his hand allowing Chrono to shake it.

An instinctive fright immediately welled up inside the young vampire, like he was an animal getting cornered by a predator. "Chrono." Miraculously he was still able to speak coherently, as he struggled to fight back the fear and take the offered hand.

"Interesting name." The Baron responded as he let go of the handshake. "Dominique Dufaux... I am, as you probably already have guessed, the Baron of San Francisco. And this here..." he made a gesture with his hand to the piggy-faced behemoth standing next to him. "Is Carl. He is my personal bodyguard, and tends to follow me around practically everywhere."

Chrono fully expected that he should greet this 'man' too, and out of pure reflex he extended his hand... and waited... and waited a little more...

The bodyguard didn't move an inch – merely regarded Chrono coolly while keeping his arms crossed. 

_'Oookay then...'_, Chrono retracted his hand again, feeling more than a tad embarrassed.

The vampire lord smiled and walked back towards the desk closely followed by his subject. "You will have to excuse Carl. He really isn't very good at the finer aspects of social interaction, like saying 'hello' and 'goodbye'." He sat down behind his desk and motioned for Chrono and Maggie to step forward. "Please... do sit down, we have a few things to discuss."

As soon as the two guests had taken seats on the other side of the desk, a girl around 18 came in with a tray and three glasses which held something looking like very viscous red wine. Chrono noticed that her skin was less pale than the other occupants in the room, he could clearly sense her heartbeat and that she, contrary to everyone else, was breathing. Obviously the girl was human.

The Baron grabbed one of the glasses, and made a gesture offering one to Chrono and Maggie as well. But something unsettled the young vampire... just where did that blood come from? Chrono suddenly felt guilty, and, even though the liquid smelled great, he really didn't want to drink what was in the glass. To his relief he saw Maggie politely declining her drink – that meant he was allowed to do the same.

As the girl left with the two remaining glasses, Dufaux began speaking.

"Now then, as you may know, your situation is a bit problematic. Normally you would both have been dead several days ago – courtesy of the Camarilla."

"What?" Chrono couldn't help himself. _'Dead... days ago?' _Maggie hushed him with a look saying that she would explain afterwards.

"It would seem that your sire." Dufaux continued looking at the purple haired vampire. "Has not informed you of the crime she has committed." He once again plucked a few hairs from his beard. "You see, every Kindred in the world is part of a society which is called the Camarilla – or at least that is what the Camarilla would like to enforce. The society is based on a few laws, which to most Kindred is nothing more than common sense. The most important law, is called the masquerade. It simply states that any Kindred must hide his or her true nature from the awareness of the kine." He smiled a bit at Chrono's puzzled look. "The humans, if you will. In order to ensure that our presence stays hidden and thus ensure our continued survival, it is necessary to keep our population controlled." The gaunt vampire took a sip of his drink. "This is where your sire has made a fatal mistake."

Chrono turned to look at Maggie, who sat completely still, seemingly keeping all of her attention directed towards the vampire on the other side of the desk.

"According to Camarilla law, a new Kindred cannot join our ranks unless the embrace has been sanctioned. One who wishes to sire a new childe, is required seek out the leader of their region to ask for permission first. Unfortunately, in this case that permission was not granted, indeed it was never even sought. It is fate's irony that you..." He turned to look at the stone faced vampiress. "My dear miss Maggie, who has never expressed any need to sire a childe, would end up breaking the law of the Camarilla, when you finally decided to embrace a human."

"But..." Maggie intervened. "This isn't the old world, the Camarilla shouldn't have the same kind of power and control here."

"Quite right, quite right." The Baron replied smilingly. "And that is why you two are still alive." He once again turned to Chrono. "California was originally named 'the Free State' because Kindred who felt oppressed by the rigid structure of the Camarilla broke free and sought westward. A lengthy struggle followed between the masters of the old world and the ones who sought personal freedom. The Camarilla was eventually repelled, and both parties agreed to a truce. This is a fragile peace, and I know that the Camarilla wants nothing more but to claim sovereignty over this state once again. I am aware that Camarilla agents have already begun infiltrating several large cities, including this one, in order to enforce their laws and expand their realm of influence." Once again he kept a short break, plucking a single hair from his beard, which made Chrono wonder how it could be kept so evenly trimmed. "Their penalty for an unsanctioned embrace is the execution of both sire and childe."

_'Execution?' _Chrono wanted to say something, but the fear still lingered inside him, and made him keep his thoughts to himself. _'Somebody actually wants to kill us... just because we exist...'_

"The reason, why you have not yet been subject to Camarilla law, is simply because I have made sure that their agents so far are unaware of this embrace. Regrettably such an event cannot be kept a secret from them forever, and the instant they do find out, they will be sending their hounds after you, in order to display their might." He fell silent for a moment and took another sip of his glass.

"That is why we are here..." Maggie said. "You have the power to sanction... this embrace."

"Again you are right miss Maggie. Since I still hold the authority over San Francisco – even in the eyes of the Camarilla – I can convince them that I had already approved this siring before it happened, and that would be the end of that story. But..." Again the Baron took a sip of his drink, presumably in order to drag out his response. Chrono was beginning to get really annoyed by this excessive dramatization. Dufaux put down his glass again. "That means you are effectively asking me for a favor which will save your lives."

Somewhere inside of him, Chrono could feel an almost unnatural rage beginning to boil. It felt as if the emotion had a life of its own, and it wanted nothing more but to be let out – to be set free and silence the arrogant bastard on the other side of the desk. It was both scary and liberating. Scary because he had never felt anything like this. Liberating because the feeling drove back the fear.

"What do you want?" Maggie's voice held a bit more ice now.

"Cutting straight to the point... refreshing." The vampire lord responded. "I recently acquired a work of art. A unique work of art which I discovered in Europe. It was to be delivered to my residence in Los Angeles, but unfortunately it was stolen a few days ago, shortly after it arrived at my house. I want you to bring it back."

"But we don't know anything about that!" Chrono exclaimed. "How are we supposed to find something we don't know what looks like or where is?"

"How does the police solve a crime?" The Baron responded a bit harshly. "They investigate, fledgling. And I know by the virtue of your clan that you two will be ideal for this task. Furthermore you will be very motivated since your lives depend upon your success, and this way I will not have to use any of my own resources. In short, I have nothing to lose should you fail, and something to gain should you succeed."

Chrono's inner rage heated up even more now, but it was quickly doused when Maggie put a calming hand on top of his. The blonde vampiress turned her attention towards the Baron again. "What does this art piece look like."

"A head." A few more black facial hairs were sent flying. "A beautiful female head with horns made of white marble."

Chrono's ears twitched – something about this seemed too familiar, like a bad case of deja vu.

Dufaux emptied his glass and continued. "Allegedly the head is the petrified remains of a demon queen. According to legend some of her children wasn't too fond with their way of life, so in order to break free they assassinated her and cut off her head... dreadful business really."

The girl from before entered quietly – this time with an empty tray, which she used to carry out the Baron's glass.

"So that is my offer: Bring my one head, and you get to keep both of yours. That is two for the price of one, which I consider to be a more than fair deal." The gaunt vampire leaned forward resting his head on his folded hands. "I would suggest that you leave for Los Angeles tonight, since I have already stalled the Camarilla spies for a few days now. I am aware that you have a fast car, so you should be able to complete the trip in a few hours. I will arrange accommodations for you both in the vicinity of my estate, and you will be contacted when you arrive. Any questions?"

_**'Yeah! What does your innards look like? **_– _WHAT?' _Chrono's eyes widened at the thought, which had just flown through his mind – unable to be held back. Like a sneering voice which wasn't quite his own, but somehow still belonged to him. Like some hidden part of his psyche, he had never felt before, which now made its presence known.

"No." Maggie's response to Dufaux was short and firm.

"Very well. You may leave then." He signaled to Carl to go and open the door, and the hulking vampire did so without ushering a single word. Having no further business with the most powerful vampire in San Francisco, Chrono and Maggie made for the exit.

Carl closed the door behind them, and went over to stand beside his superior who was now making a phone call.

"Hello... Dufaux here... is Julio back yet?"

There was a short pause – presumably the person at the other end of the phone was talking.

"As soon as he gets back tell him to call me, I have a new assignment for him."

That concluded the phone call, and the Baron put down the hook again. If everything were to go as planned he would soon be a very powerful kindred indeed.

X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X

Chrono and Maggie were escorted out by the two goons who had previously led them in. No words or pleasantries were exchanged between the four vampires, and pretty soon sire and childe found themselves in the dark empty streets of San Francisco once again.

Once they were back at the car Chrono couldn't stay silent anymore. "What the HELL, was all that about? Who would want to kill us... and WHY? Why the hell do we need to obey that arrogant jerk?"

"Chrono..."

"Seriously! This is a load of bullshit! Who does he think he is! He's got no god damn right ordering us around like that!"

Maggie gave the purple haired vampire an intense look. "**Calm... down...**"

And he did – instantly. Chrono didn't know why, but his anger was completely gone, as if something in her voice had quite literally quelled it. He got into the car and sat down on the drivers seat. "It's just... I don't understand all of this." The red-eyed vampire said a bit sheepishly.

"I know..." Maggie replied. "I don't like it either." She sat down on the passenger seat.

"Who exactly is the Camarilla?" Chrono asked.

Maggie shifted in her seat and turned to look at her childe. "Back in the middle ages, vampires were grouped together in small factions, but at large they were unorganized. Humans were generally weak and easy to prey upon so there was no need for an ordered society." She paused a bit. "I take it, you've heard about the inquisition."

"Yeah... back when they used to hunt down and burn heretics, right?"

"Sort of... In fact the inquisition also targeted kindred. The reckless behavior of our ancestors had made humans aware of our presence, and many of us were hunted, burned and killed. In fact, we were close to extinction."

"But... how can that be? Aren't vampires much stronger than humans?"

"Some are, others... particularly newly embraced, are not that much stronger actually. You do seem to be a special case though." She smiled. "But no matter how strong we might be, none of us can survive sunlight, and to stay awake during the day is practically impossible. Killing something in its sleep is not hard, and our immortality does not prevent us from being murdered. Besides, humans outnumbered us at least a thousand to one."

"So I take it that vampires... kindred found out that they needed to organize themselves in order to fool humans into thinking that they were all dead." Chrono replied.

"Exactly, and that ideology became known as the masquerade, and the secret society it spawned became known as the Camarilla."

That did make some sense, but it still didn't make it any less constricting. "But that guy." Chrono motioned with his head towards the building they had just left. "He's not with the Camarilla is he?"

"No he isn't. I wouldn't go anywhere near somebody who is, since us being alive effectively is illegal in their eyes. He is not really an Anarch either – that's the name of the group which repelled the Camarilla from California. I think he's somewhere in between, biding his time to see who comes out stronger. In the meantime he deals with both groups in order to gain as much favor as possible I suppose. The Anarchs recognize him as the most influential vampire in San Francisco, and thus he has earned the title of Baron."

Chrono thought about this for a moment. It all seemed so calculating and scheming – so far away from what he was himself, so far away from what Maggie appeared to be. "He's not like us, is he?"

"No he isn't... he's Ventrue." Came the short response.

"What does that mean."

"It's one of the vampire clans, sort of a race... some say that the Ventrue are born in a boardroom, because they seem to be constantly striving for greater power, by whatever means available. In the middle ages they were often nobles. Today they are typically businessmen, tycoons, key advisors for politicians, military officers – a Ventrue who holds no seat of power, is considered a failure. The drive is in their blood... literally."

"That's pretty harsh... what about big Mr. Pig-snout in there?"

Maggie smiled a bit. "Clearly Gangrel. Of all vampires they are considered the ones most in contact with their inner animal... I guess it showed physically what his is." Her smile widened and became more sincere. "I really don't care much for them. If you ask me, I think they'd rather run around on all four and bark at the moon."

"Or oink really loud." The reply earned a little grin from his sire, and the young vampire also felt himself relaxing a bit. "So... what are we?"

"We..." Maggie shifted her position a bit closer. "Are officially called Toreador... but that's just a name. What we are, is completely up to the individual. Among us are artists, scholars, teachers... though not the regular kind if you know what I mean. We are the ones who have retained most of our human empathy during our embrace, and that makes us the best to blend in with humans. It also means that we are the most diverse clan, since we have kept the human ability to adapt."

"And what about the whole Camarilla versus Anarch thing?"

"I don't really care about that, I wouldn't want to be part of either group... one is too restricting, the other too militant. I guess... I'm just... me."

The way she put it, it didn't sound so bad. Unfortunately there was something very wrong with the whole picture, since somebody was out to kill them, simply because, according to their law, Chrono was an illegal childe. "Maggie?"

"Yes?"

"Would he have sanctioned my embrace, if you had asked him in advance?"

The blonde vampiress had expected a question like this. She still didn't feel quite prepared to answer it, and she lowered her gaze a bit. "I... think so."

"Then why didn't you?" Chrono sensed how this made her uncomfortable, but he needed to know her motives.

"Because..." Her eyes met his again, and her face expressed a sincerity he hadn't seen before. As otherworldly as her beauty was, it was also completely natural right now, and Chrono would probably have skipped more than one breath if there had been any to skip. "I didn't know in advance... I didn't even know when you took me to the beach."

"Then why... did you...?"

"I..." She moved closer, putting her hand over his. "I couldn't... stop myself... I hadn't experienced anything like that before, and I just wanted..." Once more she diverted her gaze towards the floor, and her hand gripped his tighter almost as if she was trying to keep him from leaving. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean for all this to happen."

Her reaction made his eyes widen. Up until now Maggie had seemed completely in control of her own actions. Somehow he felt that he now for the first time saw through the veil of mystery she seemed draped in, and was looking at the girl beneath – a girl he really wanted to get to know better. "But... what happened?"

She raised her head again. "I drank too much... I killed you... And if I hadn't given you some of my own blood, you would have truly died."

"You killed me? Cause you were HUNGRY? I mean, here you go on about how vampires don't need to kill people, and then that's exactly what you did to me. Did you lie about all that?"

"What? No I didn't..." Maggie replied, a bit startled at the outburst. Chrono didn't seem angry at her, just utterly confused.

"Then what?" A baffled Chrono inquired.

"I..." Maggie tried giving a response but she honestly didn't know what to say. "I don't know..." She retracted her hand and scooted back into the passenger seat looking at the dashboard. "It's just that, I'd never felt..."

A few moments passed without words, and it gave Chrono a bit of time to digest what he had just been told. _'She didn't plan anything... she just... because she... couldn't stop...? Did she... was it... because... she liked it... she liked... me...?'_ The thought about Maggie killing him because she actually liked him was indeed absurd, but at the same time it was the only thing which made any sense to the purple haired vampire right now. A few more seconds passed before the silence began to become too oppressive, and Chrono felt he had to say something.

"What would have happened to you, if you had just let me die?"

"Probably nothing." Maggie still looked at the dashboard.

"And you knew there would be trouble ahead if you turned me into a vampire." Chrono scooted closer and turned her face towards his with two gentle fingers.

"Yes..." For some strange reason Maggie felt like she was the childe now.

"That means," Chrono's lips formed into a little smirk. "That you actually chose to bring your own life in danger, for a chance to save mine."

The blue eyed vampiress gave a little meek smile in return. "That's a very nice way of putting it."

"Well," Chrono replied still smirking. "I _am_ a nice guy you know."

"Yeah." She brought her hand up, brushing it shortly against his tanned cheek, letting her vision skim over his features. "You are." She shifted her eyes towards the horizon. "Sunrise is less than 6 hours away, so we need to get going pretty soon."

"Right." Chrono withdrew his own hand, returned to a normal driver's position, and started the car.

"But we should probably get something to drink before we leave."

"Uhh..." The driver said as he pulled out on the road. "You mean..." Suddenly it felt like going to exam again. "Humans?"

"Of course I mean humans." Maggie had quickly refound her usual tease. "You can't keep feeding from me, and I know about a dance downtown, where we should be able to find somebody."

"But will we still have time to get to Los Angeles?" It was a legitimate question, but the time shortage wasn't the actual reason for asking it.

"Sure, this car should be able to make the trip in less than three hours."

"But that's way over the speed limit." Chrono hoped he wasn't too transparent. "What if we get pulled over by the cops?"

"Then I will simply tell them that it's alright, and they don't need to worry about us," Maggie replied, as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

"How?"

"You'll see. Actually I have a feeling you'll figure it out for yourself already at the dance tonight." The vampiress gave him a reassuring smile. "And don't worry it'll go just fine if you do as I say."

So instead of driving out on the freeway again, Chrono turned the car towards downtown. He really wasn't ready for this, but postponing it probably wouldn't help a single bit.

For the first time he was now going to feed from a human.

* * *

There's the third chapter done, and I actually managed to bring in no less than three 'parallel characters' who all mimics characters from the original CC anime – can anybody guess all three? (Chrono and Maggie don't count since they were already introduced in earlier chapters) I'm sorry for all the (possibly tedious) introductions to vampire society etc. The story will begin to get more interesting along the way (I hope) when I get all these background things done.

So next time Chrono will feed 'for real' for the first time and he will discover the first of his inherent vampiric powers. Until then have a jolly good time, and remember to leave a review.


	5. 1,4: Dance, Dinner, Death

Author's confession: Uh... hello again. Sorry about taking such an extended break, without any updates or explanations. I must admit that I became a bit bored with this fic – I felt the plot wasn't moving ahead as fast as I would like, and when I realized that I needed to write more 'introductory' chapters than I had at first anticipated, my inspiration kinda left me. But if I want to get this story done right (and I do) then there really isn't any other way to get to the interesting parts but to write my way there – even though I have to write some chapters I'm not really inspired to write. About the story in general... yes it _is_ a real 'rez-fic' and 'Chrono' in this story _is_ the reincarnated demon 'Chrno' from the original story. Whether or not 'Maggie' is the reincarnated 'Magdalene' is left to the reader to decide (although her being alive and kickin' in Britain while Chrno was still moping in her tomb _is _a nice piece of irony). About Rosette... yes she _will_ enter the story and she _will_ play a part at least as big as Chrono's, but her role in the story will dictate when and where she will be introduced – that's all I'm allowed to say.

And thanks a lot to those who read and review, and sorry once again for letting you wait this long, I'll try to be more productive (for my own sake as well).

Disclaimer: Yeah yeah, I know.

By the way anything written in **bold** will deal with some supernatural aspect of vampirism.

* * *

Legend:

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

EXCLAMATION!

* * *

Humans are, as a whole, actually a very homogeneous group... well... genetically speaking of course. In reality people tend to differ greatly both in appearance and demeanor as a result of environment and culture. These differences has spawned a need to divide the human race into a vast amount of sub-groups – ethnicities as they are called – hence the need for terms like Han, Slavic, Anglo-Saxon or Nubian.

This can be said to apply to vampires as well, because as humans are grouped into different races so are kindred divided into clans. However, contrary to humans these clans are (for the most part) not distinguishable in terms of outward physical appearance like skin or eye color, height or build. The clans differ in a much more fundamental way – they even perceive the world differently due to discrepancies in their senses – and since the clan is passed directly from sire to childe, there is no such thing as a kindred of mixed heritage. The supernatural abilities which every vampire posses are also dictated solely by the clan they belong to – where some are capable of hiding within plain sight, others can command the creatures of the wild to do their bidding, and yet some can instill complete madness in other beings. The final result is that vampires of different clans actually feel more alien to each other than humans originating from opposite sides of the planet.

Still, there is one thing which all vampires have in common; one thing which transcends any difference between them; one thing which reveals that deep down they are all basically the same type of being.

An irresistible and all-consuming hunger for blood, which never can be truly sated.

* * *

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Chapter 4 – Dance, Dinner, Death.

* * *

Dances had become popular.

Of course dancing had never been an unpopular way to spend an evening, but driven forth by the new type of music and the rise of TV-shows like American Bandstand, public dances had become larger and more frequent.

A lot of people, both couples and singles, would be at these dances. Some just to have fun and blow off steam, some to show off their status with newly acquired clothes or dance moves, and others to look for that special someone.

Chrono was interested in none of these things.

The red-eyed vampire looked around the large hall which had been remade into a colorful dance arena. Every inch of wall was plastered with multi-hued pieces of decorative paper and red/yellow/pink/blue balloons hung from both ceiling and walls – there were even garlands. Some generic 'doo-wop' group was currently playing a generic 'doo-wop' song on the stage, which obviously had been set up for the occasion – it was also decorated with balloons... and garlands. Above stage hung a few large baskets which appeared able to turn upside down. Focusing his vision Chrono noticed that they were filled to the brim with confetti, which at some time later this evening presumably would be poured over the dancing audience, who were already now stepping around in pieces of colored paper... and broken garlands. Somebody had definitely put a lot of effort into decorating this dance hall. Chrono couldn't help thinking that somebody might have overdone it a tad.

Considering the extensive decorations, the band, and the fact that there was still a line of people outside wanting to join the fun, it was remarkable that Chrono and Maggie had made their way inside so easily. But after Maggie had explained that they needed to go in first, it was no problem cutting to the front of the line, and they were even given entrance for free – not a single soul seemed to think it was odd. Chrono almost felt that if they did get stopped by the law on their way to LA, it probably wouldn't even matter if they had Dwight D. Eisenhower gagged and tied to the roof of the car – his blonde sire would simply make the police understand why it was perfectly alright.

"Just remember to feel the heartbeat." Maggie's voice broke Chrono's rather bizarre train of thought. "You can sense it easily through the rhythm of the pulse when you feed, and it will tell you when to stop."

"Right..." The young vampire responded a bit absentmindedly. This was the first time since his embrace, that he had been around so many people, and he could almost feel the blood pumping in the people on the dance floor. Even though Chrono still had plenty of blood left, the hunger had reawakened forcefully inside him, and he was getting impatient. Besides she had already said this twice before.

"Chrono... you aren't listening..." Maggie sounded a bit concerned.

"Well... It's just... you already told me how to make sure I don't..." Thinking about feeding was easy enough when he only considered it as... feeding... thinking about it as sucking the life out of a human being was something else entirely. Part of him was repulsed by it, another part was enticed.

"That's what I'm talking about." Maggie again broke his thoughts. "The hunger will want you to continue to drink, even when you cannot drink anymore. You have to always keep in mind that you can easily kill the human you are feeding from in seconds. You have to think about it in order to consciously avoid it. If you don't..."

"Believe me..." Chrono interrupted, again becoming slightly impatient. "I don't want to do that."

"I know you don't. I just want to make sure you understand, I have never actually..."

"Instructed anyone on how to feed?" Chrono finished the sentence. "I figured that much out, from what the baron said."

"I just want you to know, that there are worse consequences than the repercussions of the Camarilla, if you kill when you feed." She laid a gentle hand on his arm. "I really don't want you to suffer them."

"Worse consequences?" Chrono put on a speculative face.

"Yes, it will nurture the darker parts of you and... well, I'll explain some other time. Right now you just need to know that you have to avoid it. Anyway, it's not hard to find someone to feed from, just focus on what you want from a person, and it will pretty much go automatically from there. I can't really explain how it works, I just know that it will. So don't worry." Withdrawing her hand once again, Maggie turned to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"You didn't think you were the only one who was hungry, did you?" The blonde asked looking back over her shoulder with little smile on her lips. "There's nothing more I can say say to help you, but I'll still keep an eye on you, if it makes you feel any better." She then turned her head again and walked towards where most of the obviously single guys were standing.

Now the purple haired fledgling was on his own.

And the task suddenly seemed a lot bigger than before.

The band had slowed down the pace of the music, but the difference was mainly that they were now singing something more along the lines of 'doooo waoooo' instead. Chrono decided to put thoughts of musicians lacking creativity out of his head, and focused on finding some 'food' instead. There were several people standing around and sitting along the walls of the room, most of these were engaged in some form of conversation, which he would then have to barge into.

However, along the left side of the room Chrono spotted three girls sitting together. They talked and giggled a bit, but mostly they seemed occupied with what was going on at the dance floor; presumably they were trying to catch the eye of some guy, so he would come and ask them for a dance.

The vampire took a deep breath – something which felt surprisingly unnatural – and began to make his way across the room.

_'Just remember to focus...'_

The girl sitting furthest to the right was a fairly average looking brown haired girl. Not knowing what else to do, Chrono tried to put a mental image of her in his mind.

She turned her head and looked directly at him.

The second she realized that Chrono was looking back at her, she turned her head away again, apparently busy talking to her friends now – the slight blush betrayed her.

**PRESENCE**

Now the other girls noticed him as well, and all of a sudden they began talking very hurriedly in hushed voices. Chrono stopped right in front of the brunette, and all three girls had no choice but to look at him – which they did expectantly.

"**Hi. I'm Chrono"**

It had been directed solely at the brunette, and she literally looked as if she was about to faint. Her blush had increased tenfold, and her two friends seemed ready to kill her out of jealousy. "Uhm... hi... I'm Valerie," she managed.

"**I noticied you from across the room..."**

"Really...?" The brunette's eyes lit up as she interrupted him.

"**Yes,"** Chrono had a hard time believing what was happening, all three girls were staring completely mesmerized at him, and he felt that it didn't matter what he said next. At this point he could probably recite a three day weather forecast for them, and they would still have the 'please let me have your babies' look in their eyes. **"And I was wondering if you would like to dance." **Chrono extended his hand.

"Well... I..." The girl was dumbstruck and she simply stared at the offered hand for a few seconds, incapable of forming words. "I mean... of course I will!" Immediately afterwards she grabbed the hand and got up in a hurried motion, as if the offer would expire should she not seize it now. A small startled sound indicated that she noticed how cold his hand was, and Chrono mentally berated himself for not remembering to raise his body temperature beforehand. It was strange that he knew how to, but in a way – similar to holding one's breath – it came naturally. She seemed to relax as he slowly warmed his hand from inside, and the vampire could lead his smiling catch towards the dance floor.

The dancing part was straight-forward. The girl was not even close to being as good a dancer as Maggie, but that actually didn't matter. Due to improved reflexes, Chrono was able to respond easily to when she didn't quite follow his lead, and he felt fairly confident that this had to be one of the best dances she had ever had – her expression definitely indicated that. In fact he was having a fairly good time himself, and he began to relax a bit – until the hunger rose within him again, and he became aware of the quickening flow of blood running through the girl.

"_How do I...? I have to..."_

Her pulse was evident through her fingers which were entwined in his, and the sound of her lively heartbeat was beginning to deafen him. He was losing his control. **Mmmm...**

He had to get her away from the crowded area soon.

The song ended and the next one was a slow-dancing type. When the brunette realized that her partner wanted another dance from her, she was not slow in putting her arms around his neck, and leaned into his embrace. Chrono's head was only inches away from her exposed shoulder, and his vision caught the stream of life flowing inside her. The smell became increasingly stronger and the vampire became blind to everything but the blood rushing through her veins. His teeth elongated into fangs, his eyes burned a bright crimson, and the scent permeating out through her skin began to fill his entire system. Without being able to fight it off any longer, Chrono opened his mouth and let his fangs graze softly across her flesh before closing his jaws around the base of her neck.

_Ba-dump_

The girl gave a small gasp as the razor sharp teeth sunk into her, but she didn't try to fight back.

_Ba-dump_

If anything she seemed almost as if she was clinging to the purple haired man for her very life.

_Ba-dump_

A man who was very busy drinking her blood. **More...**

_Ba-dump_

If the smell had been good, the taste was even better. **More...**

_Ba-dump_

The highly addictive sensation of new life entering Chrono's body was pushing the rest of the world far away. **More...**

_Ba-dump_

Already now, he could feel how something inside him urged him to drink faster and faster. **More.**

_Ba-dump_

Something Maggie had warned him about? **More.**

_Ba-dump_

He couldn't really remember, he just wanted to keep drinking. **More.**

_Ba-dump_

And there was nobody to stop him.** More!**

_Ba-dump_

He could feel the pulse slowing down. **More!**

_Ba-dump_

He felt her blood pressure decreasing. **More!**

_Ba-dump_

Her life rapidly waning. **MORE!**

_Ba-dump_

He had to...

_'STOP!'_

In an instant the fire in his eyes dimmed, the fangs shortened to only slightly extended canines, and the sounds, smells and colors of the rest of the world reemerged. Chrono immediately directed his attention towards the girl slumping in his arms...

Her eyes were closed and her body had become heavier since she couldn't stand on her own legs, her features had paled slightly, and she felt a bit colder than she probably should.

But she was still breathing, her heart was still beating, her hands were still around his neck and for the most part she actually looked fine... woozy, but fine. The puncture wounds in her neck made Chrono remember something Maggie had told him, and he planted a few kisses on top of the wounds – licking up any excess blood. He couldn't help but be a little amazed by how the flesh instantly knitted itself together again. Taking a quick glance around revealed that everybody was preoccupied with their own dance. Nobody had noticed anything unusual going on.

It had all taken just a couple of seconds.

Chrono started making his way to the edge of the room, almost carrying the semiconscious brunette. In the corner were some unused chairs. She was still half-asleep when he sat her down, but she could sit upright as long he leaned her against the wall. Judging from her condition, it would probably take a couple of minutes before she came to her senses completely, and then she would probably still feel dizzy.

Casting a quick last glance over his shoulder to double-check that the girl was alright, the young Toreador began moving towards the center of the room again – new blood coursing through him, making him feel stronger and more alive. Every scent was empowered, every color brighter, every sound clearer, and even the band started sounding a little better. Chrono tilted his head backwards, closing his eyes as the intoxicating feeling of renewed life washed over him and swept him away in a red torrent of rapture. The blood itself had been nowhere near as sweet as when he had fed from Maggie, but that was probably for the best since passing out on the dance floor really wouldn't have gone unnoticed. He had felt much more in control this time, he had managed to stop in time, his hunger was now diminished, and the brunette would never know who he was. It was as if he had passed a major test, and somehow he knew that he would be able to pass it again.

"Chrono?"

The vampire turned around at the sound of the familiar voice. Before him stood a guy dressed in suit and tie. Although those clothes were not what he usually wore, he was still easily recognizable, with his sideburns, the over-greased hair and the cigarette in his mouth. It was the classic rebel look except for the lack of a white t-shirt and a leather jacket.

"It is you... I almost couldn't recognize you... what's happened to you... your hair... you look different... where have you been... I haven't heard from you since you took off from the bash more than a week ago and we've been looking all over for you... your parents are really worried and keep calling me to find out where you are... why haven't you called anybody you dumbass..."

Chrono was staring dumbfounded at Jake who kept throwing very reasonable but hard-to-answer questions at him, he hadn't expected to run into anybody he knew and was at a loss of what to say. He couldn't very well explain what had really happened to him – Jake would never believe him – and he was too baffled by discovering that a whole week had passed to come up with an adequate response quickly. "I..."

"Who are you talking to?" Maggie had silently snuck up behind Chrono and slid her arm inside his. She looked at Jake with a quizzical expression.

"Whoa... Is that where you've been the whole time? With the chick from the party? Not that I disapprove, but you could at least have told somebody something... I mean we've been worried sick when you just disappeared..."

"Excuse me..." Maggie interrupted. "Do we know you?"

"WHAT?" Jake exclaimed. "What's this about? Don't you recognize me? I was with Chrono when you two met, I mean I practically introduced the guy to you... why aren't you saying anything Chrono?"

Frankly, Chrono was as stunned as Jake about the way Maggie acted right now. He felt certain that she should be able to recognize him, but for some reason she was pretending not to.

"**I'm sorry,"** Maggie's voice hadn't really changed, yet somehow... it felt different. It was as if it didn't even need a language, but simply entered directly into the mind of the listeners and manipulated their subconsciousness into believing the truth her words. **"We honestly do not know you, so clearly you must be mistaking us for somebody else. Are you sure you are not just believing what you want to believe?"**

"But..." Jake's eyes went wide and started shifting erratically from Maggie to Chrono. "It has to be..." An almost panicked expression rose in his face. "I mean... you have to be... you look just..."

"**But does he really look like the one you know?"**

"Well not exactly but still..." Slowly his eyes changed from agitated to sad. "It's just... I just thought... you just look a lot like..." His gaze dropped towards the ground and a small shake went through his shoulders – almost as if he tried to suppress a shudder. "I'm... I'm sorry... I just really thought..."

"We're really sorry about your friend, but we have to go now." Maggie said and began pulling Chrono's arm. The young vampire was about to protest, but a piercing look of blue from the eyes of his sire suppressed that urge.

"I'm sorry... I just... I just thought..." Jake kept repeating this like a broken record player. Chrono couldn't help but look back at his childhood friend as he and Maggie made their way out of the hall. The usually cheerful hot-rodder was standing completely still and alone among all the dancing people – his eyes were directed towards the ground... searching for something valuable he had lost. It was almost as if the air had darkened around him, like a globe of sadness inside a room of merriment, and all the time he kept saying 'I'm sorry' and 'I just thought'.

Once outside Chrono finally managed to confront his sire.

"Why did you do that? What was the point of pretending we didn't recognize him, or that I don't even know him for that matter? He's my friend dammit!"

"You want to know why?" Maggie responded coolly. "Because he can't be your friend anymore, that's why. A lot has changed about you, and it's not only your appearance – how will you explain that? Which excuses do you plan on using to keep from meeting him during daylight? What will you say to him when he grows older and you don't? How do you expect him to react if he were to find out the whole truth about what you are? And most importantly... how will you protect him from the Camarilla, when they discover that he knows about you and deems him a threat to the masquerade? And believe me... they will find out."

"But... I can't just let him stand in there. You saw him, you heard how worried he said my parents were." Chrono turned around and began walking. "I'm going back in."

"Why? So you can postpone the inevitable a few months or perhaps years? So you can tell him that you are not dead but have to disappear out of everybody's lives anyway? Nobody will accept that! He will want to know for what reason you are abandoning all of them..."

"But I'm NOT abandoning them!" Chrono exclaimed.

"You have to." Maggie's voice turned softer. "You have to, because if you don't you might endanger all of us... and you will risk hurting everyone you ever knew."

Chrono stopped dead in his tracks – his back still towards Maggie. "But there has to be a way... my parents... I mean I'm all that they've..."

"I know. And I'm truly sorry about it." The blonde approached him from behind, taking his hand and placing it on his chest with her own on top. "But feel this... we have no heartbeat... no breathing... we don't even have a natural body heat. In the eyes of humans we are dead – and that is what those who once knew us has to believe in order for both us and them to continue existing." She wrapped her other arm around his waist.

"But they have to know..."

"Chrono... you are not human anymore. You have to understand that you cannot go back to the life you once had. What will you accomplish by letting them know that you are alive, but that you have no intention of ever seeing them again? You will only end up causing more pain to those you care about. Is that really what you want to do?"

"No... I..." Chrono began feeling weak and helpless, trying to fight against something much bigger than himself and not doing very well at it. The rage began building up again and he spun out of the arms of his sire. "DAMMIT!" The outburst was followed by a loud cracking sound, and several fissures were now evident in the brick wall where his fist had collided with the building. "It's all that damn Camarilla's fault."

"No it isn't..." Maggie put her arms around his waist again, partly to comfort him, and partly to make sure she had a hold of him, if he should snap completely. "It's mine... and I'm really sorry. You have to let them go... their world and ours do not mix... it will be easier for everyone this way."

Chrono turned around to face her – the blaze still in his eyes.

"I care about you a lot Chrono, and that is why I will stop you, if you try to go in there again." Maggie wasn't lying, that much was obvious.

"Fine. I'll just pretend to be a walking corpse then." Chrono responded vehemently, as he freed himself and began walking back towards the car. "I suppose we need to get going to L.A. anyway if we are gonna save ourselves from dying again."

Maggie couldn't really find the right words to say... or any words for that matter. She knew all too well what he was going through right now, and the only cure for that was time.

Chrono waited in the car, and the minute Maggie got into the passenger seat, he turned the key and drove out onto the road without saying a single word. He didn't bother to turn on the radio either. All he could think about was the look on Jake's face, when he had first shown up tonight, and how that had changed so quickly, when he had falsely realized that Chrono wasn't really Chrono. The image was replaced by one of his parents, sitting at home hugging each other, staring at photographs and waiting anxiously by the phone, not daring to pick it up if it actually rang.

_'A whole WEEK? A whole bloody week and she didn't even tell me!"_

He suddenly felt very wronged by his sire, and he was seething inside.

_'She took me. She ripped me away from everyone. What right did she have? NONE!"_

Angrily he turned his head towards the passenger side. The full moon was high in the sky, it cast a wistful light across the Pacific, and the vampiress sitting next to him. Maggie was staring blankly at the ocean apparently deep in thought, not attempting to hide the sadness in her expression which was illuminated by the softly glowing moon. Something about the vision calmed him, the sheer melancholy of his sire's features made her seem almost like a ghost deeply immersed in past regrets...

_'Regrets...'_

Chrono's eyes widened a bit when realization dawned upon him. He pulled the car over to the side of the road and looked directly at the blonde, who turned around with a slightly mystified look in her eyes. The moon shining behind her made her hair appear like a pale halo.

"What's this? Why are you stopping?" She asked.

"You did that... didn't you?" The answer came in the form of a question.

"What?"

"You did that..." He looked at her intently. "You told somebody you cared about, that you weren't dead... and they got hurt because of it. Isn't that right?"

Maggie's eyes went dinner-plate size, and her lower jaw almost unhinged itself. She couldn't believe what Chrono had just said. She couldn't believe that the man she had embraced had just accused her of something, which no Kindred should do; something no Kindred would even consider doing if they gave it some thought.

"I..."

She couldn't believe it because it was the truth.

After a few seconds her eyes reverted to regular size, and she turned to look at the ocean again. "My sire... he was not the best teacher..." Slumping in her seat she let her vision wander skywards. "He was a renaissance style gentleman, a man of the world and a charmer... I was young and I felt he was incredible. I guess he took a liking to me, which led to him embracing me one night... I had no idea what was happening."

Chrono had stopped the engine, he could feel that this was something Maggie obviously didn't talk much about, and most likely she had never shared it with anybody.

"He told me the basics about the masquerade, but he never explained to what extent it should be upheld or how strictly the Camarilla enforced it when someone broke it. He never even told me there was something called the Camarilla; I never knew until it was too late."

"I had virtually disappeared and been gone for almost two weeks so I wanted to contact my parents. I didn't know what I was going to say, but I just wanted to reassure them that I was going to be alright and they shouldn't worry about me. So I went home. I still remember my mom's face when she opened the door... she was so... surprised... and relieved... and she cried when she hugged me and called for my dad who came out shortly after. I remember how happy they were, how happy I felt, and I remember how shocked and frightened we all became when several Nosferatu agents simply appeared out of nowhere. I remember their panic and their screams as the Nosferatus seized us and rampaged through the house, hauling my two kid brothers out of their beds. I remember them crying as we were apprehended and brought before the prince."

Maggie's voice had risen a bit in strength, her fists were clenched and the resentment was obvious in her features.

"A prince is the Camarilla version of a city's supreme leader, he or she keeps the peace between the clans and makes sure that the law is upheld – and the most important law is the masquerade. I had never even seen the prince before, much less heard about such a thing, and all of a sudden I was on trial, having committed something I didn't know was a crime, for which I was supposed to be executed. And I would have been had my sire not showed up in the last minute and pleaded for mercy. The prince – in her graciousness – decided to oblige him."

The vampiress' lips formed into a sardonic smile and she began speaking almost in a sneer.

"Camarilla 'mercy'... hah. She made me watch while her lackeys cut off the head of my father, my mother, my brothers... I begged for them to kill me instead, but since my family was now aware of the existence of kindred, they were supposedly a great threat to all of our kin and had to be disposed of. Of course she told me how deeply sorry she was about all of this, but I could tell that there wasn't a single compassionate emotion left in that dead heart of hers."

Chrono wanted to say something, but kept his mouth wisely shut. His sire was becoming increasingly agitated; this was something she had dug down and buried a long time ago.

"Of course none of it was necessary." Maggie let out a little scornful laugh. "I learned later that those who followed me knew exactly where I was going... they just didn't care to stop me. The Nosferatu clan is a hateful one. Their blood transforms them into dreadfully deformed beings, and they all carry a deep self-loathing because of that. Those who are constantly in pain wants nothing more than to spread that pain to others... which means they'd rather catch somebody red-handed and see them get punished than prevent the crime from happening... that way everyone gets hurt. Instead of stopping me from going to my parents house, they simply waited until there was no doubt that I was guilty of a serious violation of Kindred law so they could bring us in... but..."

Her gaze could freeze fire now, and her next few words were spoken through clenched teeth.

"My brothers... There was no need to bring in my brothers... they hadn't seen me, they hadn't seen anything... they had NOTHING to do with it, and yet they were brutally awakened in the middle of the night by beings too HIDEOUS for words to describe, and sentenced to death for NO reason other than to satisfy some sadistic need... oh and how the Nosferatus loved it... even more so when the prince told me, that this was something that I, myself, had brought upon my family..."

"What she didn't mention was how nicely this served her. There were challengers to the title of prince, there always are, and through this incident she could demonstrate her leadership by enforcing swift justice for a capital offense. And she even managed to show her 'compassion'... the events were twisted and relayed in a way where she was portrayed as the benign ruler who spared the life of an obviously irresponsible fledgling, while still being strong enough to protect the entire Kindred community... a just, fair and capable prince who cares about her subjects..." The hard quality in Maggie's voice subsided, and was replaced by resignation. Her head dropped, and she appeared to be staring through the dashboard.

"She killed my entire family just to tighten her hold on the power she already had."

This time it was Chrono's turn to lack words. The sheer brutality of the truth his sire had just revealed was far greater than what he had expected... but then again... what had he expected? He felt ashamed of himself, his own anger so infinitely small and petty compared to what Maggie must have felt. A vision began to creep into his mind, a vision of everyone he knew slaughtered at the hands of faceless executioners – that was what she had wanted to protect him from. Chrono was quite simply too overwhelmed to say anything. Besides, what could he possibly say to take away the saddened look in the sky-colored eyes of his sire?

"I..." Maggie turned towards him again. "I don't know why I even told you all that... I'm just..." Her gaze lingered for a few seconds before wandering towards the ocean once again. "Can we just drive...? I don't really feel like talking anymore."

Chrono didn't know how long he simply stared at the girl, who was much too occupied with her own thoughts to notice him. He wanted to say something...

anything...

in the end he simply just started the car.

No more words would be exchanged between - that much was obvious to him. In any case he needed to keep his mind on reaching L.A. in time since sunrise was only four hours away. With a bit of luck they would reach their destination in three.

* * *

And that's it. A few revelations about some of the downsides of being a vampire, but at least Chrono managed to get smoothly through his first feeding, and he discovered one of his supernatural abilities – the one which allows him to affect the emotions and subconsciousness of others. I had a bit of trouble deciding whether or not to actually write the name of the ability into the story, but ended up thinking that it's nice to know what it's called, so I put it in there. I will only write it explicitly the first time he uses an ability, but if you think it seems out of place feel free to tell me.


	6. 1,5: The Others

A/N: Hello and a very merry good evening (or day) to all readers... now that sounded weird. Got another one of these chapters done, I know its not the fastest update, but I suppose the time between chapters has undergone somewhat of an improvement (though I've had a bit of trouble uploading), and the chapters have also reached a decent length now. I know the genre of this fic does say action/adventure (true there will be other genres in the story, but presumably that will be the dominant one), and so far there hasn't been much (none in fact) of that. I decided that this chapter would be a good time to start incorporating some, and I hope it makes for an entertaining read, since I must admit it was quite a bit of fun to write.

Disclaimer: I don't know why I keep writing these... I mean you know already.

And now: Story.

* * *

Legend:

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

EXCLAMATION!

* * *

Humanity...

What is that?

Does it entail treating your next of kin the way you wish to be treated yourself?

Refraining from stealing, lying, committing adultery or murdering?

Honoring one God and one God only, not taking said God's name in vain?

What is humanity?

Is it about clawing and scraping to get ahead in the world, improving your position, earning more wealth, gaining more power?

Or is it enjoying life as it is right now, savoring every smell, sound and vision as if it was your last?

What is humanity?

Is it creating wonders with your imagination and your hands for others to experience and marvel at?

Or is it meditation and self-reflection, earning spiritual insight into your own mind, body and soul?

What is humanity?

Is it fighting passionately for that one thing which you believe is truly right, willing to sacrifice your own life in the struggle?

Or is it helping the less fortunate, promoting peace through non-violent means not willing to raise a hand even if you are being struck down and beaten?

What is humanity?

Is it about living in ultimate freedom, being the complete master of your own destiny, not having to answer to anyone?

Or is it existing alongside others in an ordered community, obeying a set of rules in exchange for the comfort of a safe life in the company of your kindred?

What is humanity?

It is a hard question for a human to answer.

And it is much harder to figure out for someone who is not human, but is trying to be.

* * *

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Chapter 5 – The Others

* * *

The trip from San Francisco to L.A. was largely uneventful. Apparently state troopers didn't feel like patrolling much from 1 to 4 in the morning, and only one car had actually attempted to stop the speeding Thunderbird. The officer never got further than shouting the mandatory 'pull over' before a vicious stare from Maggie made him slow down and cease his pursuit. She didn't even have to say a single word to get him off their back, and Chrono couldn't help being a little bit intimidated by the glare, even though it wasn't directed at him. Without any other disturbances they could enter the city of Los Angeles well before sunrise – they had managed to drive halfway through the state of California in less than three hours, which was over 100 miles per hour on average, and the car still sounded like it wanted more.

Maggie did nothing but stare out the side of the car. She had been deathly quiet the whole trip, which was understandable, but was nonetheless beginning to bug Chrono quite a bit. The extended period of silence had made him think, and he felt he needed to talk to her. However considering what she had revealed about her own past, and that she clearly still wasn't in the mood for chatting, starting up a conversation was not the easiest thing in the world.

So Chrono kept his mouth shut.

As the car entered the city outskirts, he began realizing that apart from getting to L.A. he really had no idea where he was supposed to go, and he didn't know if his sire had either – perhaps they would just get contacted by other kindred appearing out of nowhere...

The streetlights cast a moody glow over the sleeping metropolis, and the young vampire let his gaze wander across the almost empty roads. Not many were outside at this time – a young couple on their way home – a few guys sitting on the hood of a car smoking cigarettes – an old man lying on a bench looking like he had nowhere else to go. But it was not the people Chrono could see that occupied his mind right now, it was the ones he couldn't. Everywhere there were shaded areas, dark corners, dimly lit alleyways. He kept imagining something moving inside those places... black shapes shifting... shadows following them. The idea of vampires who could hide from view, and effectively become invisible, didn't appeal to him the least.

Maybe they were being watched at this moment...

Clearing his throat (which he immediately felt he hadn't needed to do in the first place), Chrono was about to ask his sire where he should drive next.

Before he managed to say anything she spoke.

"Pull over..." It was as close to being a command as he had ever heard from her.

"What... here?"

"Yes... here... anywhere... just pull over now!" Her voice was urgent.

"Hey... easy now... you don't say a single thing the enti..." Chrono was instantly silenced by another stare, and he pulled over to the right.

Maggie had jumped out of the car before it even stopped. She stood completely still, and her expression showed that she was listening for something.

"What are..."

"Shhh..." She interrupted. "Can you hear that...? This Way!"

Without any more words she began running back the way they had come from.

"What the..." Chrono's mind stalled for half a second when the delicate blonde took off, before he decided to leap out as well and run after her.

"Wait!"

She didn't seem to hear him, and he had to sprint as fast as he could in order to not lose her too quickly... she could definitely set a new world record for both men and women in the Olympics if she wanted.

This was too damn weird, one minute she had been so melancholic that it bordered on complete catatonia, the next she orders him to stop the car, and takes off with a speed which could outrun a hurricane – without any explanation whatsoever. Vampire or human... didn't matter. Women were unpredictable and utterly incomprehensible creatures regardless of species!

Maggie first made a left turn down a small alley, then a right down an even smaller. She was putting more and more distance to her childe, who realized that he couldn't keep up with her.

It didn't take long for him to lose sight of her, and was forced to stop.

He was in a small back street, with several other streets going left and right in front of him. It was much darker here, lacking the soft lighting from the larger road, and the overflowing trash cans were evidence that this was not the richest part of town. The dustmen obviously didn't give as much attention to this area as others, and probably for a good reason. A vague howling sound indicated a gust of wind passing through the cracks in the walls of an abandoned building. It swept through the alley, blowing off the top of an overfilled garbage bin sending cans, paper, and comestibles, way too old to still be called that, flying.

With an annoyed growl Chrono struck aside some used food wrappings, which otherwise would have smothered his face. Where the hell was she?

Then he heard something...

"Hey... give it here." The voice was coarse and rough, sounding like a fairly large man.

It came from somewhere further down the street.

"Yeah... 40!" An exited youngish voice exclaimed.

Much too far for human hearing to pick up.

"Blech..." A third voice sneered, in a Little Italy accent laced with a sneaky street quality. "You can have it... fokkin' bastard tastes worse dan its dog..."

Then there was a thud, followed by a sickeningly munching sound.

Chrono's stomach began to churn... his instincts immediately told him what that sound meant.

He began running towards it.

"Let him go!" That was his sire's voice, and she sounded angry.

Knowing without a doubt what she was up to now, Chrono increased his pace – this was bad. He made several turns before running down a tiny back-alley from where the voices seemed to originate.

It lead to a dead-end.

Just ahead of him, with her back to him, her fists clenched and standing in an aggressive stance, was Maggie.

Three men were at the end of the alley.

The first wore a pair of old jeans, a leather jacket way too big for him – clearly stolen – and a white t-shirt with red blotches splattered randomly on it. He had unkempt hair, unruly sideburns and a psychotic look in his eyes. A large grin was plastered across his face, and he let his tongue wander over his lips in a disgustingly pleased manner – perhaps trying to lick up some of the blood that was smeared over the entire lower half of his face.

The second was your average big, bald & burly type. His clothes pretty much consisted of a pair of ragged trousers and a short sleeved shirt with more than half the buttons missing. Hanging limply in his arms, was what they had referred to as 'it': A nicely dressed elderly man, with his face frozen in fright, one hand still clutching his walking cane, and the other holding a broken dog leash. The burly one had his head deeply buried in the old man's throat, and he was obviously a messy eater, evident from the amount of blood flowing down the side of his 'dinner's' neck and spilling to the ground below. The munching sound, which had become much louder, came from him, and his overzealous eating was clearly the reason he hadn't noticed Chrono or Maggie yet.

The purple haired vampire's face twisted with revulsion.

"Woohoo 50!" The outburst came from the last one, who was standing at the end of the alley. He resembled an average teenage boy rather than a man, but Chrono knew that he probably couldn't judge his age by his looks. The guy wore shorts and a t-shirt, and his clothes looked to be in a bit better shape than the other's – not much though. He was also occupied, seemingly not caring about the two newcomers.

He was busy playing a game... counting how many times he could kick a dog repeatedly into the air.

"I said let him GO!" Maggie repeated as she began approaching the men.

"We heard ya honey..." The guy in leather jacket replied mockingly – he was the one sporting the New York style Italian accent. "We just don't... obey Camarilla sluts..." He was suddenly overcome by a fit of laughter. "but... (snort) why doncha come here... we could trade... you for it..." His lips pulled back into a sneer, and he barred his teeth – canines growing in length, nails turning into vicious looking claws. "When it's as dry as da pussy of a 60 year old whore!"

The brute, finally noticing that someone was here to interrupt his eating, dropped the old man unceremoniously to the ground and looked up. He had a weather-bitten face with a full beard, that didn't look too well-kept; his natural hair color remained a secret, because every single facial hair was dyed crimson. His gaze was wild and crazed, and his posture was hunched like a wild animal's – he looked like someone who had gone feral.

"One does not have to be Camarilla to rid the world of vermin..." Maggie hissed, her own nails extending to claws.

"Arh dammit!" The youngish one exclaimed exasperatedly, and threw up his arms up in abandonment. "Bitch made me lose count!" The dog landed with a hollow 'thump'. It didn't move an inch after it had landed, and Chrono could tell, even from this distance, that there was less than an ounce of blood left in the poor animal. It had been bled dry by the three guys in front of them, after which they had started on the terrified owner.

His sire must have heard a cry for help all the way from the car.

"Oh believe me," Maggie snarled, "you are going to lose a lot more!"

What happened next was way too fast for Chrono's eyes to follow.

In less than the blink of an eye, the vampiress had covered the almost 50 feet separating her and the young looking guy.

The next instant a loud 'smack' indicated that he had collided forcefully with the wall behind him – the girl had simply rammed him, catching him completely off guard.

The brute let out a growl as his hands began transforming into large hairy animal paws.

The New Yorker had also been taken by surprise, and was laying flat on the ground. Maggie must have tripped him, when she ran past him. He rose almost instantly and made a leap for her.

Chrono was stunned for a second.

Then he rushed forward.

He might not be as fast as his sire, but he was going to help anyway. The guy in the leather jacket hadn't noticed him coming, and he could probably land a good hit. He felt his canines growing; his rage boiling. His eyes had shifted in color and became almost orange, like two balls of fire ready to set anything ablaze. His vision blocked out everything but the one he intended to strike. The guy made a slash towards Maggie's back, but she had noticed him coming and appeared to simply teleport two feet sideways.

_'He's off balance.'_

Chrono struck, landing a blow to his kidneys, throwing all his weight into his fist...

The guy uttered a muffled grunt, fell forwards and had to take a few steps to regain his balance.

Chrono prepared to make another swing, but before he could act, the guy had spun around bringing the serrated claws down diagonally across the young vampire's chest.

Clothes ripped, flesh torn and blood spilling, the toreador howled in pain. Claws dug into his ribcage, and he felt himself being lifted off ground and hurled through the air. He collided with a trashcan, and fell to the ground.

Looking up, Chrono saw the guy rushing towards him with claws extended, hair more unruly than ever, and saliva flowing freely from his mouth. His gaze was even more psychotic now and he looked nothing like a sentient being.

Chrono got to his feet as fast as he could and managed to get out of the way just before the claws reached him. They dug into the trashcan instead, which in turn was hurled towards the purple haired kindred. Bringing up his arms for protection allowed the young vampire to deflect the improvised projectile, but it still sent him flat on his back. Again claws dug into his flesh – this time his shoulders – and he was lifted off ground, staring straight into the eyes of what clearly was very far from being human.

"You're wasting my time..." The words were no more than a malicious hiss. "Fledgling!" With an angry yell the psychopath vampire threw his hapless victim forcefully against the metal stairs of a nearby fire escape.

There was a snapping sound, and Chrono felt a spike of pain shoot through his left shoulder, when it sprung out of place. Focusing his vision again he saw that the guy had wasted no time, and he just managed to bring up his right arm to block the incoming blow. The attack was deflected, but the New Yorker beast simply grabbed the offending arm with his other hand, and sunk his teeth into it. A nauseatingly crunching sound traveled through every part of the young Kindred, as he felt the jaws close around and bite all the way through the bone of his arm. He grit his teeth, forcing himself to block out the pain of ruptured nerves and blood loss.

Blood loss...?

He was drinking his blood!

With a roar Chrono laid a punch straight into the bestial guy's face, causing the other vampire to loose his hold. The break he bought with the hit was short however, and he toppled over in shock, as the claws struck again, rending deeply into the flesh of his stomach.

_'I'm too slow...'_

He tried landing another punch, but the guy dodged easily, as if he had seen it coming from miles away.

_'He's too fast...'_

Another slash – this time directed at his face – was barely avoided as Chrono brought his left arm up for protection. The force behind it still sent him sprawling towards the ground.

_'Too strong...'_

Claws once again flew towards him, and the Toreador rolled sideways, narrowly dodging the piercers which instead dug into the alley road.

Despite his supernatural speed and strength, the guy was not a good fighter. His movements were sloppy, and everything he did seemed to come out of pure reflex and animalistic instinct.

The instant Chrono got to his feet he was sent down again by a vicious backhand.

_'If only...'_

Before he could get up he felt the claws cutting into his back, lifting him up and driving him into the ground.

_'...I was...'_

Once more he was lifted – jagged hooks of pain piercing far into his lower back, twisting mercilessly... shredding his muscles... tearing his blood vessels wide open.

_'...faster...'_

He was then thrown directly into a nearby wall, hitting the hard surface with a deafening sound... did his skull splinter?

_'Faster...'_

He fell down, landing on all four.

**Faster!**

**CELERITY**

In that instant, the world went into slow motion.

Every sound lowered in pitch, every motion became unnaturally sluggish...

And everyone's movements slowed to a crawl...

Everyone's... but his own.

Chrono slowly rose to his feet again, reluctantly glancing at himself as he got up.

He appeared to have been dragged through a meat grinder; there were cuts and slashes all over his upper body, and his clothes were torn to pieces.

But even now the wounds were closing rapidly, his left shoulder had reattached itself, and the stirring feeling in his right arm told him that it was healing as well. His newfound speed made him feel incredibly light and agile, and he could move with an ease he had never known before. He could even hear sounds, smell odors, and feel individual sensations much more easily as the stretching of time allowed his mind to respond much quicker to outside input.

Chrono noticed the claws coming from above to slash at him again...

But now...

A smile spread on his lips.

Now he had all the time in the world to react.

And he was pretty damn tired of being called a fledgling.

He waited until the the wild swing almost struck him, before moving slightly to the right. When the claws came down to chest height, he wrapped his left arm around the guy's elbow, trapping it in his armpit. With a quick twist and surprising ease, he snapped the joint, making the limb bend in a way it definitely wasn't supposed to. The other vampire barely had time to make a surprised expression before Chrono shot his right fist directly at his face – the bone, which had been bitten in halves, had already reconstructed itself.

Slowing down time, effectively meant speeding himself up, and the vastly increased momentum of the punch propelled the startled New Yorker spinning through the air.

Chrono even had time to notice Maggie in the process of making diced meat out of the bearded brute. The youngish guy lay completely still in a pool of his own blood, and the burly one tried in vain to hit the nimble girl with his paws. One strike from them would probably crush the armor of a medium sized battleship, but in order for him to use them effectively, he had to hit her first, and that seemed about as likely as the pope converting to protestantism. In the eyes of the purple haired vampire, Maggie had also slowed down considerably, but she still appeared to be moving on fast forward – presumably she was better at this thing than him. She was practically dancing around her foe, cutting him up little by little, and Chrono could hardly imagine the bearded vampire perceiving her as anything more than a ghostly blur.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw claws flying towards him again...

Chrono made a leap straight into the air.

He easily soared eight feet upwards, twisted into a horizontal position and made a take-off from the wall behind him, sending himself to the other side of the alley, where he landed effortlessly.

The Italian-accented vampire accidentally ran into the wall, and after dragging his oversized fingernails out of the bricks, he quickly turned around with mad fury in his eyes and foam around his bloodied lips...

He was just in time to get his face caught in Chrono's hand.

The Toreador had run into his enemy, with his left hand first, and a loud 'crack' sounded when he slammed the other vampire's head into the brick surface.

Even the wall fractured.

Claws were brought up to strike, but Chrono caught the wrist in his right hand, twisting it with as much ease as he had the other arm, breaking the bones in more than one place.

And once again he smashed the New Yorker's head into the wall... 'CRACK'

The other claws dug into his left arm – it didn't matter.

Driving his arm forward again made the head collide with the wall a third time... 'CRACK'

Eyes burning and teeth barred, the only thing on his mind right now was hurting the guy in front of him as much as possible, as fast as possible.

'CRACK'

Fourth time...

The other one struggled less and less.

'CRACK'

_'Five...'_

The claws embedded in his arm retracted, the hand loosened its grip and fell down, the arm hung limply from its owner's shoulder.

'CRACK'

_'six...'_

His world was lost in a haze of red, and he barely saw nor sensed what he was doing anymore.

'CRACK'

_'seven...'_

_'eight...'_

_'nine...'_

_'ten, eleven, twelve...'_

_'fifteen...'_

_'twenty...?'_

Had he lost count?

He didn't even know what he was counting.

Feeling the hard cool surface of the wall repeatedly slamming against his palm, made him realize that he was doing something odd, and the soothing hand touching his shoulder from behind brought him back to his senses completely.

In his hand were patches of skin, hair, bones and brain, mixed together into a repulsive reddish-gray gruel. The other vampire lay before him... he didn't posses anything even remotely resembling a head anymore.

Chrono instinctively shook his hand to rid it of brain matter, when his jaw fell down in shock.

The remains of the dead vampire began crumbling, his skin became taut, his claws fell off, and his entire body slowly disintegrated, leaving only cracked bones lying in a heap of dust which quickly scattered in the winds.

"We are not alive in a regular sense." Maggie put her arms around him steadying his trembling body. "When we die, time catches up with us, and we instantly decompose to what would remain of us, if we had died when we were instead embraced."

Chrono shook all over... the experience was too much for him... the merciless feeding from the old man... the crazed looks in eyes of the other vampires... his own brutality as he repeatedly smashed the guy's head into the wall until nothing but a paste was left...

"How is your arm?" The blonde asked.

"I... It's..." He focused on the arm.

"It's..." The arm felt good.

"I think..." Driving away thoughts of murder and manslaughter felt good too.

"It's alright..." Yeah... the arm was alright...

He closed his eyes...

It was alright...

Maggie gave him a comforting squeeze. "Don't feel bad about what you did, he deserved to be put down."

Chrono opened his eyes again, looking at the brittle bones laying on the ground before him...

She was right...

He did deserve it.

Maggie slowly let go again. She went to the old man who lay unmoving in the corner of the dead-end.

Crimson eyes looked around.

He could hardly believe what had just happened – it had been over so fast, and now the alley was as quiet as if nothing had happened at all!

There were cracks in some of the walls (especially the one he had rammed Mr. Psychopath's head into), some trashcans were out of place, and there was a dead dog. But that was about it... the corpses of the dead vampires where practically gone, having all turned into fine dust, and there was hardly any blood. He hadn't bled much himself either, even though he had been cut open practically everywhere on his body. Somehow he had simply willed the blood to stay inside him. He didn't hurt anymore either, and his torn clothes were the only evidence that he had been in a vicious fight. This should be way more than his mind could handle...

Yet somehow... For some inexplicable reason...

He simply accepted it...

So much had changed... about the world... and about himself.

Averting his gaze from himself he saw his sire cutting her wrist open and placing it over the old man's mouth.

"Wait... What're you doing?"

"Saving his life." Maggie responded softly. "You have already seen how rapidly we can heal." She grit her teeth a bit as the man began drinking. "A bit... of that healing power is present in our spittle, which is why minor cuts... such as bite-wounds from feeding, can be healed by it." Chrono walked over to stand behind her. "A lot more, is in our blood." She withdrew her hand from the old man's mouth. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully and in a lot better shape than before. The blonde put two fingers on his neck, feeling for the pulse, and looked up at her childe. "If a human drinks our blood they get some access to our power and they become stronger. If they drink repeatedly they don't even age."

"And the dog?" Chrono asked, nodding towards the broken leash in the sleeping man's hand.

"Already dead... There's nothing we can do for it." Maggie stood up slowly. "Our blood cannot bring someone back to life... or at least. " Her voice softened a bit more. "Not back to the life they used to live." She made a motion to pick the old man up but Chrono stopped her.

"Let me." He scooped him up into his arms.

"Thanks." Another breath of wind swept through the alley. "Let's go back."

They began walking away, Chrono carrying the sleeping old man, Maggie beside him with a thoughtful expression.

A strange chill suddenly ran down his spine... a strange fear as if something was following him. He looked over his shoulder...

Nothing.

Probably just his nerves catching up with him – perhaps talking about this whole experience would calm them. "You know... I almost thought I was going to die back there."

"I noticed," Maggie responded. "I was about to come and bail you out, but you really turned the fight around." She laid a hand on his arm. "I could have helped you sooner, but I thought it was best if I didn't... you're not mad at me for letting you handle it by yourself are you?" She looked slightly nervous.

"Mad?" Chrono sent her a smile. "No. It turned out alright, didn't it? I even think I found out a thing or two about myself, so no... I'm not mad."

She returned the smile vaguely. "I'm actually a bit surprised that you managed to turn the fight around as quickly as you did, that guy was much older than you."

"I guess most Kindred are..."

"Those..." Maggie's face immediately twisted in disgust, her voice full of loathing. "Were NOT Kindred."

"But..." They proceeded out the alleyway, the breeze had picked up slightly, and the chill ran down his spine again. He forced himself not to think about it. "They were vampires like us, right?"

"Kindred implies kinship, and I do not think of myself as having any kinship with them." Maggie's gaze was bitter as a northern wind.

"Who were they?"

"Sabbat scum." The words were spat out with as much resentment as possible. "As you said, they were vampires, but that's where the similarities between us stop."

He had to agree, despite the fact that they were all bloodsuckers – like it or not, that was what he was – they were vastly different. He wasn't particularly fond of the language they had fancied, he would never brutalize anybody in the way they had, and he sure as hell would never kill an innocent animal and use it as a soccer ball or any other object of entertainment afterwards.

"Do you remember..." Maggie again put her hand on his arm, her voice had lost its sharp edge. "I told you there were other and more severe consequences from killing when feeding?"

"Yes."

"Well becoming like them is it. There is something which lives inside all of us. A sort of... beast. Humans tend to refer to those things as their inner demon, and I guess you can call it that. It is just different for us, more tangible, more real, and it is always there, waiting for us to make a wrong step, waiting for us to nurture it. I know you've felt it too. I sensed it in you when we talked to the Baron, and you heard it when you fed at the dance."

Chrono remembered.

That sneering voice inside him.

The one he hadn't recognized, but which was still him. The part of him which had wanted to rip open the Baron's guts and extract his entrails from within, the part of him which had wanted to keep feeding on the girl, even though there was no need to, and most likely the part of him which had slammed the New York vampire's head repeatedly into the wall a long time after he was dead. A primal entity, a bestial part of himself, a suppressed urge inside his soul wanting to be set loose.

He could almost feel it thrashing about inside him...

aggressive...

hungry...

**RUN!**

Scared?

He once again felt like something was stalking him, breathing down his neck... if the thing was even breathing.

He looked over his shoulder...

Nothing.

**FLEE!**

"When the Camarilla was first formed," Maggie's voice pierced through his mind, driving the inner voice back. "Many vampires agreed that we should blend in and pretend that we were either human or that we didn't exist, in order to continue living within this world. The philosophy behind such a decision is rooted in the belief that humanity is desirable, and the ones who shared this belief formed the Camarilla and began calling themselves kindred." Chrono liked listening to her voice... it calmed him somehow. "But there were those who disagreed. Quite a lot actually. They viewed humans as weak and humanity as a weakness which should be fought. They encouraged vampires to feed the side of us which isn't human, and that... is the beast. They formed another group, with the ultimate goal being the destruction of the Camarilla and the complete subjugation and enslavement of all humans for the purpose of keeping them as livestock to feed from. That society is called the Sabbat, and they call themselves Cainites – a word which has existed since ancient times."

"I'm confused now... Up until now my impression of the Camarilla has been nothing but bad, and now you're saying that they're actually the proverbial 'good guys' in all of this?"

"It's politics... it's all a jumbled mass off gray, colored with opinions and personal ambitions. It's hard to say who's the good guys and who's not... which is why I have tried to stay out of it... so far."

**HIDE!**

Chrono tried to keep his mind on the conversation, as it seemed to be the only thing which kept the feeling of something creeping up behind him at bay. He became increasingly worried that his subconsciousness was so vividly affecting his emotions.

"What happens... if we listen... to this beast..."

**GET! AWAY!**

"...if we do what it wants us to?"

"Then we end up falling towards it. We become increasingly alienated from the humanity we used to possess innately, and we end up following the most basic of instincts. You saw how those three acted. They were frenzied; controlled entirely by their beast under stress. If they had survived they would have remembered nothing of what had happened during the fight – and they would not have cared what their beast had made them do. It can make you do things... terrible things... without your knowledge. Its actions are always simple, direct and brutal and it cares for nothing except its own survival. The Sabbat sees this as a strength, since it promotes that the strongest survives. In a way it takes Darwin's law to the extreme, but... you tell me if you think they were a higher form of life than you..." She made a motion with her head towards the one sleeping in Chrono's arms. "Or him."

Chrono looked at the old man. He must have seen a lot during his time, met a lot of people, maybe he had a large family who cared about him, maybe he had grandchildren or other people who were happy that he was still alive. No way in hell had the man deserved to end up as dinner for those three lowlives, and no way in hell would he himself turn into a beast like them. Thinking about them being dead actually made him feel a bit better.

They had made their way out to a small park square with benches situated along the edge. "Let's put him down here."

**GET OUT OF THE OPEN!**

Chrono forced himself to disregard the voice and took his time placing the old man, keeping him upright by supporting him on the walking cane and the armrest. "You think he's going to be alright?"

"Yes, he will wake up in an hour or so. Then he can see the sun when it comes up." She looked towards the east with a wistful expression. "He will miss his dog, and if he remembers what happened and ever tells anybody about it he'll be dubbed a crazy old coot, but at least he will live." The eastern sky was beginning to brighten. "Let's go back to the car."

As they turned to walk, Chrono looked over his shoulder at the old man. "You know, it feels really good; knowing that he's going to live."

"I'm glad you feel that way."

The car wasn't far away, and the two vampires made the trip in a few minutes. When they got back they found that they weren't alone. Two men of indeterminate age waited for them. They were both dressed in dark suits and hats, and even though Chrono had never seen them before, he immediately recognized them as being Kindred.

"Evening." Maggie said without emotion, when they reached the others.

"Not much longer." Came the short response. The speaker presented a key with a number tag attached to it. "Walden drive, between Sunset and Wilshire Boulevard just east of the L.A. Country Club." He regarded Chrono and his obviously ruined clothes with a haughty expression. "We've taken the liberty of providing extra clothing for you, since you have managed to destroy your own during your little skirmish."

Chrono's eyes widened.

_'So we WERE being followed... it wasn't just my imagination.'_

But...

_'They didn't even care to help! Aren't we supposed to be on the same side?'_

He noticed how Maggie was seething inside, and she snatched the keys in a hurried motion.

"Why, thank you, you are _much_ too kind." Her response was laced with heavy sarcasm.

The vampire smiled and lifted his hat in a farewell gesture. He made it quite obvious that he had caught on to the sarcasm. "You are most welcome. Very commendable by the way." Both of them started to walk away. "I would advise you to drive now. You know, sunrise and all that."

Muttering a 'bloody Ventrue', Maggie got into the passenger side of the car, and once again relapsed into silence.

The drive took them into the nicer part of Los Angeles – Beverly Hills to be exact, and allegedly the Baron had to possess quite a lot cash since he had arranged for them to get an entire house in this part of town.

But Chrono's thoughts weren't occupied with the extend of the Baron's wealth nor the beauty of the scenery.

**HIDE!**

The fear was still there.

It had been growing steadily within the pit of his stomach, and was now dominating him entirely.

His body began to tremble.

It was a sense of fright he had never experienced before except in dreams. The feeling that you need to outrun something but you are too slow, too clumsy, too weak. Something kept creeping up behind him. A slithering menace which had disappeared every time he had looked for it. Something was out to _destroy_ him.

Instinctively he looked over his shoulder once again...

And this time.

He saw it.

It was more fearsome to behold than he could have imagined.

It was infinitely more frightening than almost being butchered alive.

It was terror in its purest form: A gentle rosy color brightening the eastern sky.

It was the light.

**RUN!**

And it was coming for him.

**RUN!**

Chrono put his foot down on the gas.

**RUN!**

He had to escape the light!

"Don't worry, we'll make it in good time." She tried to be calming, her hand had placed itself on his shoulder.

But he could see it in her eyes too.

Chrono almost missed the turn he needed to take – he only made the right one because Maggie pointed it out to him.

Walden drive was not a very long road, and they found the house fairly quickly.

Chrono made a sloppy parking job, and jumped out the minute they stopped – forgetting his car keys. He shook all over as he ran towards the house, the massive fear welled up inside him, making him feel like he was going to pass out.

He grabbed the handle...

The door was locked...

He spun around, looking for Maggie – she had the key.

The blonde was walking towards the house.

Would it hurt her to SPEED UP A BIT?

She inserted the key, turned it, and opened the door.

Chrono literally leaped inside, running towards the bedroom, eyes scouting frantically, looking for holes or transparencies in the outer barriers of the room. He checked every inch of wall, ceiling and (oddly enough) floor, appearing most of all as a raving lunatic.

But the room was sealed tight, every window was securely locked and barred with several layers of curtains covering them.

The light would not enter here...

He dropped down onto the bed.

Here he was safe.

This...

He fell backwards on the mattress, covering his eyes with his arm.

Was his haven.

Maggie entered a short while afterwards closing the door behind her. "All the windows and curtains are closed, at least they had that much sense." She looked at the slightly trembling vampire on the bed and her expression softened. "How are you feeling?" She sat down beside him.

He slowly sat up again – the fear beginning to deflate. "I'm alright now... I've just never... I just feel..." He didn't really know what to say. He felt extremely foolish as he turned his eyes towards her. "I don't ever want to be that close to seeing a sunrise ever again."

"I know the feeling." She lay her hand atop of his. Her gaze settled on the small comforting movements her thumb made across the back of his hand.

And a comfortable silence descended on the little room. The kind of silence shared between two people who have been through too much in too short time. The kind of silence that lets you know it is alright to drop your guard. The kind of silence that lets you relax.

After a little while Maggie pulled her hand back and got up. Red eyes followed her as she went over to open the closet. She pulled out her ponytail letting her blond hair spill over her slender shoulders, and began to undo her shirt...

Chrono became a bit self-conscious, and forced himself to avert his gaze. Maybe he shouldn't feel that way considering how she had embraced him, but something about that whole night seemed to be off, as if he couldn't quite trust anything that had happened. But she hadn't asked him to look the other way, and she was quite casual about undressing in front of him...

His eyes returned to the vampiress, who had finished undoing her shirt and started on the skirt...

VERY casual...

He only took a short peek, before the feeling of doing something wrong made him look the other way again... but it was long enough for him to get a profound impression of the body underneath the clothes... her hair flowed down to midway on her lithe and gently curved back, her wasp-like waist broadened into her softly shaped hips, and her legs were slender and smooth. Her movements only added to the sylph-like grace she seemed to posses, and Chrono had more than a bit of trouble looking the other way.

She was not just beautiful, she was truly stunning in every sense of the word, and he felt as if he could spend an eternity simply admiring her from afar. Quite simply, she was addictive to behold.

Chrono shook his head, walked to the opposite end of the room, and began undoing his own shirt, before realizing that he might as well just rip the ruined piece of clothing off without bothering with buttons. He was getting increasingly tired now, and he began wondering about sleeping arrangements.

The bed was king-sized, so space wasn't a problem. And he _had_ slept in her bed for something close to a week, so it was probably alright for them both to sleep in it... right?

He threw the rags on a chair, and when he turned around, he saw Maggie sitting on the bed in a nightgown she must have found within the closet. She eyed him as he went to sit beside her, looking like there was something on her mind.

"I'm sorry..." She said after a little while. "This wasn't really how I had hoped things would turn out."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know really..." She appeared to be searching for the right words. "I think I might have been a bit naïve. But I guess I hoped that everything would go a lot smoother." Her eyes turned from Chrono to the wall. "I had hoped the Baron would simply grant his approval, I had hoped we hadn't met your friend, I had hoped to spare you from meeting the Sabbat... at least until another day maybe, and I had hoped not to drag you into all these ridiculous vampire politics... I had just... hoped..." Her words were dragged out, and her gaze fell down.

"To tell you truth, I haven't been in Europe for almost forty years. After my family was killed, my sire lost interest in me, since I wasn't the same spirited young woman anymore." The tone in her voice clearly indicated how much love she held for him – none at all. "He went to embrace other young women. I found out that he did so quite often, discarding them when he became bored with them... and I was just one of many." She let out a little sigh. "So one day I decided that I'd had enough, and I simply went on a boat to America. I heard about California being a place where the Elders had been driven away, or were at least held in check, by younger Kindred who didn't approve of the pyramid power structure of the Camarilla. I felt it would be a place where I could at least exist. I wasn't going to hurt anybody... I just wanted to be myself... and forget..."

Maggie fell silent, her hand fidgeted in her lap, and her expression became blank and discouraged, as she apparently got lost in her own thoughts again. "I..."

Chrono took her hand and made her look directly at him, silently encouraging her to go on.

For the second time tonight Maggie's expression became almost pleading, the same look she had when she had confessed that his embrace had been accidental, the look that let him see who she really was, and how vulnerable she could feel. "You've seen it for yourself... even here the Camarilla controls virtually everything... even if it's not directly. I sometimes feel as if somebody is watching my every move, and I'm just trapped, alone, with nobody to trust." The strength in her voice dropped, and she seemed unable to look at him now. "Such a life is really hard to live, and sometimes..." Her hand gripped his a bit tighter, speaking in nothing more than a whisper. "Sometimes... I wonder if the only reason I'm still alive, is because I'm too afraid to die."

The silence that followed hang thick in the air.

"God..." Maggie cast her eyes upwards, her voice had regained some measure of strength and she sounded annoyed with herself. "I don't even know why I'm telling you all this..." Shifting her position on the bed, she turned to look at her childe. "Listen, I'm really sorry... I know I've said it too many times already, but I am. I'm probably not the best or most optimistic sire in the world either, and I know you most likely can't forgive me for what I've done to you... and I'm not asking you to... I just want..."

"Hey." Chrono interrupted. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you, but I couldn't really find the right time to say it, or maybe the right words." He grabbed both of her hands in his own, looking directly into her eyes. "I've been thinking, and I've realized a few things tonight... well... a lot of things really." He couldn't help smiling a bit at that statement. "I've realized, that there's a lot more to this world than I had ever imagined. I've realized that even though I don't quite understand what I am, I do know that I'm not human anymore, and I've realized that I have to drink the blood of humans in order to stay alive."

Maggie became a bit uncomfortable. She knew very well how such a realization felt, and the thought of having brought it upon him made her feel horrible about herself. She wanted to avert her gaze, but found it impossible to look away from his burning stare. There was an intense warmth in it. A warmth which somehow seemed to spread throughout her. A warmth which reassured her in a way she couldn't describe. A warmth which frightened her more than anything had before – almost as if she had felt it before in a long forgotten dream.

"I've realized," Chrono continued, "that there are dark things lurking practically everywhere who would want to kill me or somebody close to me if they can benefit from it, and for that reason I can never again see my family or my friends." Chrono found that he was loosing himself completely in the sparkling azure that was Maggie's unblinking eyes – the same feeling he had when he first saw her. "I've also realized that I will never again see the light of the sun... experience another sunrise or another sunset." He smiled. It was true that he would never again see a bright day, a white cloud or a clear blue sky, but actually... that didn't matter one single bit. All the blue sky he would ever need too look at was right in front of him, and it was looking back at him.

"But I've also realized that the one who made me into what I am, the one who made me realize all of this... genuinely cares about me, and I don't know why, but I truly believe that as long as I am with her, things will turn out alright after all." His smile widened, and was now returned cautiously by her as well. "So that's why I'm saying that we should just fetch that damned demon head for Mr. Head Honcho and get everyone off our back... and then..." He brought a hand up to cup her cheek, and almost instantly the vampiress leaned in resting her head in his palm. "...then we can start carving out a little piece of this existence for ourselves."

The blonde smiled more now, she let her hand walk over his shoulder following the movement with her eyes. "I'd really like that."

"I had a feeling you would." Chrono replied with a smirk.

"I know it's a bit selfish of me, but I'm actually glad I met you at that party." She leaned a bit forward.

"You know what..." It was evident in his voice that he surprised himself also by saying this. "...I think I am too."

Even more so because he actually meant it.

What happened next was as natural for them as it was unnatural for any vampire. Before either of them had realized what was going on, lips began brushing softly against each other, and hands found their way around the others body, as the pair slowly came to lie down together on the bed. It was a strange sense of companionship, an act of sharing oneself, an extremely human display of affection not normally craved by Kindred. But as alien as it ought to be to both of them, it also felt completely right at that moment. It was proof that even though they were bloodthirsty predators, they had at one time been human, and some of that humanity continued to endure inside them. It was proof that even in a dark world with a cold body and a still heart, comfort could still be found in the embrace of one another.

The kiss wasn't excessively hungry in its nature, but neither was it anywhere near chaste. Their lips moved slowly with each other, the joining deep and sensual, conveying that, while they were feeling a desire for each other, neither of them were in any hurry to sate it fully. So, even though Chrono could have plunged his canines eagerly into the kiss, plundering his sire's mouth with a ravenous appetite for her blood, he only wanted his lips and tongue to engage gently with hers right now; and, even though Maggie could have dug her nails into the back of her childe, raking them across his muscles in a feverish need to feel his body, her fingers were at the moment completely content with tracing soft tickling touches over his skin. They were allowing the closeness to develop at a pace which was the opposite of urgent, using gestures of extreme tenderness, bordering on being cautious, to silently reassure each other of that, which they both wished to believe.

Because what reason would they have to rush anything between them, when they had forever to be together?

Outside the world lit up, the brightness of dawn rose above the eastern horizon, forcing back the shadows of night with blinding rays of sunshine. Although the light was blocked by the heavy drapes, the bedroom was still illuminated ever so slightly, and a soft glow was cast on the two vampires lying on the bed in each others arms.

Chrono literally felt as if he had been hit with a ten ton sledgehammer, and his body became completely powerless. He was forced to break the kiss, as his head fell into the crook of Maggie's neck. "I'm sorry..." Just speaking required all the strength he could muster. "I can't seem to... stay... awa..."

"It's ok..." The vampiress said sleepily, letting her fingers run through his hair, massaging the back of his head. "...it's the sun."

The purple haired Kindred didn't respond – he was completely still.

Struggling to keep herself awake, Maggie gently pushed the young vampire off her and onto his back, pulling the covers over them. She lay down next to him resting her head on his shoulder and her arm on his chest.

"When all of this is over..." She closed her eyes. "We can go see your parents if you want... we'll just make sure they don't see us."

A little smile formed on her lips as she allowed sleep to claim her.

Maybe...

Just maybe...

She was not alone anymore.

* * *

And so ends the very first night of Chrono's life as a vampire, a fairly eventful one if you ask me, but that was to be expected. The fight scene was my very first attempt at action, and scenes such as that one will become an increasingly bigger part of this fic. Since this particular scene probably will be setting the standard for those to come, any comments or suggestions relating to it will be greatly appreciated (yes, that translates into 'please review' :-) ).


	7. 1,6: Caught by the Past

Hi there and welcome back to my 'CC vampire' story. I'm sorry that I've dragged the plot out so much already, but I felt I had to introduce a number of concepts within the setting so I wouldn't risk losing anybody later on (Instead I've lost them now :p). But since I've managed to cover most of the basics now, it's finally time to declare the 'tutorial chapters' over... that means the plot will begin to pick up speed from now on, and I hope you'll find it interesting. But why am I _talking_ about the plot moving ahead when I could actually... move the plot ahead.

Disclaimer: Yeah... well, some things in life just aren't fair.

* * *

Legend: 

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

EXCLAMATION!

**Supernatural stuff **(typically)

* * *

There is a breeze.. 

There is the sound of crickets...

There is the scent of dew beginning to settle...

There is a feeling of chill brushing across skin...

Yes...

The light must have gone...

It is time...

to rise.

* * *

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Chapter 6 – Caught by the Past

* * *

Chrono opened his eyes. He was lying in the bed of the house in Beverly Hills. The window was open, letting in the cool night air. The coverings were neatly tugged around him, even though they probably weren't necessary. Through the open window he could see the moon already in the sky. Maggie's scent still hang in the air but the girl was gone. 

He sat up.

There were voices coming from another room in the house... one of them were hers. From what words he could make out, they were talking about the demon head. To be honest he didn't feel the least bit motivated to join the discussion, having already developed a certain distaste for the excessive pragmatism of the Ventrue. Besides he had to find some clothes to put on first since his own had been thoroughly ruined the night before.

In a fluid motion he rolled out of bed and went towards the closet. It was an odd feeling to be so alert right after waking up... certainly wasn't a trait he'd ever possessed before. Chrono scanned through the closet, and quickly found that the clothes in there meant for him was a dark suit with matching tie – there was even a bloody hat... bunch of robots those guys. Apart from the clothes there were also a few towels lying neatly stacked on one of the shelves.

Hmm... it had been more than a few days since he'd had a shower, and even though he didn't really feel that he needed it, taking one now would probably be a good idea anyway. If nothing else then to sort out some of the things that had happened last night.

Grabbing a set of clothes and a towel the vampire went to find the shower, making sure to keep his distance to the voices in the house. The bathroom was fairly large and sported both a tub and a shower stall, Chrono locked the door behind him, put the clothes on the floor and stripped off his boxers. Going towards the stall he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

_'Damn...'_

He hadn't really gotten used to his own reflection yet – but then again, it was only the second time he saw it.

The vampire went towards the mirror, deep red orbs staring back at himself through pupils which did not look human. He grabbed a lock of his hair, and pulled it down before his eyes...

_'Amazing...'_

It felt completely smooth and silky and it really had turned purple... not just some of it, but every part of every single hair from the root to the tip, from inside out was a deep dark violet resembling the inner most color of a rainbow.

Now that raised a thought...

He looked down his own body.

Nope...

Appeared pretty much like it used to...

But his torso had changed... quite a bit actually.

Studying himself in the mirror again clearly showed that not only his face had lost that excess filling. The skin around his chest and stomach seemed to have tightened, and any sign of having eaten a bit too good food or having drunk a bit too many beers had literally vanished. There really was no layer in between his muscles and the skin covering them – and those muscles could pretty much turn rock-hard if he wanted them to.

He grinned a bit.

Well if nothing else the condition certainly could be said to cater for his vanity.

The grin revealed his dental set, and curious as to how it appeared now the vampire barred his teeth and leaned in over the sink. Nothing was exceptionally out of place, except of course the canines which had turned into sharply pointed spikes, but they weren't actually that much longer than before – maybe they only became so when he fed...

Looking at his arm Chrono got an idea.

Trying to forget that he was actually planning to bite himself, he let his jaws encircle the wrist, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply as he forced his mind to focus solely on the smell of blood.

It worked. The hunger rose in him immediately, and the stirring feeling in his mouth told him that the canines were lengthening. Giving into the urge Chrono began to slowly drink of his own blood – an utterly strange sensation of draining and revitalizing himself at the same time.

He then forced himself to open his eyes – it felt pretty much the same way as keeping your eyes open during a French kiss – and look into the mirror once more.

_'Whoa...'_

His pupils were nearly gone, and his eyes as well as his birthmarks glowed red-hot. His face had obtained what looked like a healthy blush and removing his mouth from the wrist revealed teeth which were now a good inch in length. They hadn't really lengthened in the sense that they had changed shape, but instead it appeared that they had been pushed out by pistons hidden within his gums. His lips were also drawn back and the involuntary tightening of his facial muscles along with the long and pointed ears made his features remind him somewhat of an otherworldly wolf. No blood seeped out of the puncture holes in the arm, and in a matter of seconds they had closed again, without a single sign that there had ever been any wounds there.

Even though he had experienced the vast extent of his own healing rate the night before, seeing it so clearly with his own eyes was astonishing to say the least.

With a smile hinting of slight disbelief – part of him still expected (and actually feared) that he would wake up from all of this – the vampire made his way towards the shower stall and turned the water on.

_'Wait...'_

He halted.

_'Something about vampires and running water...?'_

He looked for a few seconds at the innocent looking clear liquid coming from the shower and disappearing quickly down the drain.

_'Doesn't look dangerous.'_

Chrono glanced once back over his shoulder at the mirror.

Supposedly there should have been something about vampires and reflections too...

_'Well... time to test another myth.'_

He started with a finger...

The water was lukewarm, felt wet (well that was a big duh...), and not really pleasant to touch...

But it wasn't particularly unpleasant either.

He let his hand become soaked...

and then his entire arm.

No skin peeled off... no flesh began to rot... it didn't hurt and he didn't burst spontaneously into flames.

_'Alright...'_

Chrono then stepped into the shower stall, immersing himself fully into the stream of running water while cranking a bit up for the hot kind. Even though he felt unable to be discomforted from the cold, he could still enjoy the feeling of warmth on his skin. He closed his eyes and turned his head towards the source of water while bringing his hands up towards his face – nothing cleared the mind quite so much as scrubbing ones face with ones palms. Grabbing the shampoo, which quite conveniently had been supplied, he poured some of the liquid soap out and massaged it into his scalp. There was also a regular soap for the rest of the body, which he began applying lavishly. As he soaped his arm, he couldn't help studying the small bubbles finding their way into the slight depression between his tri- and biceps, and the sight made him shake his head slightly with a smile on his lips – in a normal world he wouldn't even have that arm anymore considering the fight last night. Chrono closed his eyes again and let the water do the rest of the soap removal, taking an extra minute or two to enjoy the tranquil sensation of warm water running down his body, before turning it off and stepping out again. He dried himself quickly, and went to pick up and put on the clothes he had brought with him. Casting a last glance at the new and 'improved' vampire in the mirror he remembered something – now would usually be the time where he would shave, but feeling how his cheeks were completely smooth, he realized that it probably wouldn't be necessary anymore. His hair didn't seem to need any work either.

He grinned.

There were just more and more benefits to his condition.

Tossing the towel over a hook before opening the door, the young Kindred went towards the bedroom again. Illuminated by the lamp next to the bed, and standing in her white blouse and peach skirt, looking out the window, was Maggie. As he entered the room she turned around and smiled. "Hi..."

"Hi..." He threw out his arms into a scarecrow position. "Well... I found the clothes they'd left."

"I can see that." She tilted her head sideways and her smile turned sceptical.

"Heh... you don't exactly look pleased."

"Honestly..." She went towards him, instinctively putting her arms around his waist and gazing up at him. "I liked your other look better."

"I'll take that as a compliment." He smiled and returned the embrace. "I mean... cut my hair, plant a hat on my head and I might as well be one of them Ventrue tightasses."

"I would have to put you out of your misery before that happens..." She shot him an innocent grin, and Chrono liked that she had become playful again. "You know it would be the only humane thing to do."

"Well, fortunately..." He planted a small kiss to her brow. "...there's no chance in hell that's going to happen. So what did you find out talking to those who were here?"

"Not much beyond the expected." She slowly let go of her hold. "The head was discovered missing three nights ago... apparently one of the guards stationed outside saw it missing from its regular place through a window. There are no immediate signs of breaking in, and they have been monitoring the mansion constantly but without anybody entering or leaving. There has been no word from the goons inside the mansion either and the baron has ordered no thorough investigation until he could employ somebody capable... in any case that means us. Consequently they don't even know whether the ones who did it are still hauled up somewhere inside the mansion."

"But why not investigate right away? That would have been much more sensible."

"Depends... the Ventrue are not field workers in particular, so they generally get other clans to do their dirty work, and the Baron decided that he would rather wait for us to do it than run the risk of others destroying what leads might be in there. You will find that our senses are far superior to those of most others and in fact they can only be rivaled by Kindred from the Tremere and Malkavian clans. The thing is, that Tremere are all Camarilla and they're extremely loyal to the society. Therefore they are very sceptical towards anyone outside of it, so the Baron would have a hard time employing one. As for the Malkavian... well if you should ever have a conversation with a Malkavian and be able to understand what he's saying, chances are that you're just as insane as him."

"Insane..." Chrono raised an eyebrow. "You mean there's a whole clan which is insane?"

"Pretty much... they become so upon their embrace... or at least they seem insane to the rest of us. Anyway, I was given a key to the estate so we can go look at it now – the sooner we start the fresher the trail and the sooner we'll find the head." She made a motion indicating they should go to the car.

Chrono shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Calling the Baron's residence an estate was in no way an exaggeration. The yard was almost as big as a small park and it was surrounded by a tall, spiked metallic fence. Finding a spot for the Thunderbird was no problem since the driveway held spaces for at least ten more, and the 'house' itself was the size of a three storey apartment block, with a ten foot tall reinforced wooden gate as front door.

They made their way up the steps leading towards the mansion, the hard stone beneath them causing each footstep to make a loud clacking sound, and the sound echoed slightly back down on them from the ornate canopy protruding from the wall above the entrance.

As Maggie pulled out the heavy iron key Chrono couldn't help but study the intricate Corinthian style pillars supporting the stone roof above them. The marble was neatly polished, and the shapes were meticulously perfected. They were a mix of whites and dark greys almost as if the creator had tried to blend classical Greek architecture with dark Gothic colors.

'CLANK!'

Chrono instinctively spun around, and saw Maggie with one hand on the door handle and another on the key she had just turned. She shot him a smile from over her shoulder. "Guess our Baron has a flair for the dramatic."

By the looks of the door and the nature of the unlocking sound Chrono had expected some form of creaking to come from it too, but when the vampiress pushed, it slid open effortlessly without making the tiniest noise. Following his sire inside, he soon found himself in the largest room of any private residence he had ever seen.

There was at least twenty feet to the ceiling of the unlit entry hall, numerous doors leading to who knows where situated on either side, an impressively large chandelier hung from the center, and along the edge was a second floor balcony in the shape of a horseshoe with two curved stairs going down on either...

'SMACK!'

The sound of the door closing behind him shook the foundation of the large room and traversed loudly through the hallways and corridors of the mansion.

_'Well, if anybody's still in here, they certainly know we've arrived...' _He smiled a bit at his own thoughts – thieves typically didn't stay put after they'd stolen what they'd come for.

The echoes slowly died down, and the hall became completely silent save for the rhythmic ticking of the large grandfather clock up on the balcony. Through the darkness Chrono could see paintings along the side walls, many of them seemingly dating back more than one century, and he caught himself being astounded once again by just how many details he could make out at this distance and in this lighting.

"Should we turn on the light?" He asked.

"No..." The blonde said as her eyes skimmed over the room taking in how many exits needed to be checked. "The darkness will not be a hindrance to us, and if anybody is still in here... something which I highly doubt... it can even serve to our advantage." She began making her way towards the stairs.

"So... what are we looking for?" Chrono asked walking beside her.

"Anything out of the ordinary really... first of all we should see if we can find the way they came in – that might tell us something about their nature." She paused at the front of the stair. "We'll search faster if we split up. I'll take downstairs..." She walked towards one of the doors. "Just remember to stay alert, and don't hesitate to come get me if you see anything... and if something should happen..." Opening the door revealed that it lead into some form of dining room. "...I'll know." She then walked cautiously through the doorway leaving the purple haired vampire alone in the entry hall.

He began making his way up the right set of stairs.

There were two doors on both the left and right side of the balcony, and a larger double door in the middle of the end wall. _'Five in total... might as well begin from an end.' _As he opened the first door on the right a little smile formed on his lips... this one creaked.

The door led into a fairly large but dark chamber. In front of him was a queen size 1800-style bed, and behind it a heavy looking chest-of-drawers with a mirror on top. There was a desk with a large window above it along the right wall, a comfortable looking recliner with a reading lamp in the corner on his right side, and a door in the far end between the desk and the piece of dressing furniture. Even though it was probably just some form of guest room, Chrono had to admit that it was a hell of a lot larger and nicer than his own dorm room.

The vampire let his finger run across the desk while walking towards the door in the far end of the room – the digit became covered in a layer of fine dust. _'Been a while since any visitors were here...'_. Glancing through the window he could see the driveway and the parked Thunderbird outside.

He grabbed the handle and pushed the door open. As he had already guessed it led into a bathroom which he quickly skimmed through.

_'Nothing out of the ordinary...'_

Chrono made his way out of the guest room again. In the hall he was greeted by the slow 'tick tock' of the grandfather clock...

He looked towards it.

_'Quarter to twelve... plenty of time yet.'_

The second door on the right led into another guest room much similar to the last one, except everything was arranged opposite in terms of right and left, and this one had no window... and no bed.

Where the bed should have been was a rectangular stone dais of roughly the same size. It was about a foot in height, richly adorned, and at each corner stood a tall chandelier. In the center of it was a full sized black coffin.

_'Guess some fancy the classical style...'_

Overcome by curiosity the young vampire went towards the coffin and let his hand run across the smooth surface – no dust. It had no name plaque and no lock either... pretty impractical if it had anyway. Sliding his fingers into the handle Chrono raised the lid an inch – it creaked too. The lid was fairly heavy but his vampiric strength enabled him to open it virtually effortlessly and look inside.

The interior – even the lid – was covered in thick crimson padding.

_'Suppose you can never get too old-fashioned to favor comfort.'_

Chrono quickly became intrigued by the uncanny sleeping place, and he tried feeling the soft fabric of the coffin to get an idea of how comfortable it actually was. It was quite roomy also and there was even a pillow in it... a part of him almost wanted to give it a try. He _was_ a vampire so it would be alright... wouldn't it? He suddenly wondered how many vampires actually slept in coffins – it could be that his sire was a minority in that aspect. Deciding that he'd better stop thinking about coffins vs. beds and get back to searching, he closed the lid again and turned around...

The door...

It was closed.

Did he close it?

_'No I didn't...'_

He hadn't closed the door to the other room either, and that one had stayed open, and if this one had closed on its own...

_'I would have heard it close!'_

Chrono leapt towards the door and flung it open, eyes skimming quickly over the large dark hall...

'Tick...'

_'Dammit!'_

'Tock...'

Nothing...

'Tick...'

Nothing but the damned ticking of the human-sized clock in the corner to his right.

'Tock...'

_'Ten to twelve...'_

Could something really have snuck past him and out of the room while he was preoccupied with the coffin?

He really didn't know.

And he certainly didn't like the idea...

_'Dammit..'_

Maggie had _told_ him to stay alert...

_'Goddammit...'_

And he hadn't...

_'Wait...'_

Perhaps...

'_Oh...'_

...nothing had snuck _out_ of the room...

_'Shit...'_

He whirled around... everything happening in slow motion... the movement of his feet... the turning of his torso... the twisting of his neck... the focussing of his eyes as they saw...

A recliner, a desk, a door, a chest-of-drawers...

'Tick...'

and a closed black coffin on a stone dais.

'Tock...'

'Tick...'

'Tock...'

_'Ok Chrono... get a grip...'_

Trying to control his agitated emotions the vampire quickly went towards the door in the other end of the room. He placed his hand softly on the handle, began turning it careful not to make a sound...

And twisted it rapidly, pushing the door open in less than a second.

_'Yup...' _

He calmed down a bit.

_'...nothing but another empty bathroom...'_

Closing the door and shaking his head with an amused grin at his own actions, he turned around towards the exit of the room. The door leading out to the hall was silently and slowly closing, the well oiled locking mechanism ensured that it shut completely and hardly made any noise while doing so.

_'Great job Chrono... mystery solved.'_

Feeling a bit stupid he relaxed his guard again as he walked towards the closed door. He noticed a nice landscape painting he hadn't seen before above the desk... it showed a quaint rural building situated in a sunbathed field next to a dense forest, there was a farmer working with a scythe in the field, some kids were running around the house... very idyllic... must be in place of the window. He felt a strange need to study it more closely, but managed to suppress the urge since he really should get back to searching the rest of the second floor. Reluctantly he left the art piece and went out into the hall.

The grandfather clock once again greeted the young Kindred with its steady ticking.

_'Seven minutes till midnight.'_

Leaving the massive timepiece Chrono went towards the double doors.

On the other side was a large rectangular room with two corridors going down to the left and right of him – and they had even more doors. A massive panorama window in the other end of the room allowed for the rays of moonlight to enter and bathe the room in their soft and almost colorless glow. Through the window Chrono could see the massive well-kept yard of the estate. The moon was reflected in the waters of a small nearby lake, the ripples made the pale light dance back and forth across the black surface, indicating that the wind was picking up. A weeping willow leaned lazily over the lake, its long drooping branches swaying in the increasing breeze, looking like flowing green hair.

But Chrono's attention was quickly dragged away from the outside view, his vampiric senses completely occupied with the inside of the room.

It was a gallery.

The Toreador began to walk slowly through the room eyes wide as they took in the sight. Every single wall was lined with expensive looking paintings from virtually every age. Numerous pedestals were erected in a pleasing symmetrical way, and everything from modernistic sculptures to ancient Greek vases graced the marble bases. This room was not just any kind of room... this was a place of riches an interested art student could truly appreciate. And for one who had recently had his senses heightened to superhuman levels this... was just plain cool.

So caught up in everything around him was Chrono that he never saw it before he felt it...

_'What the...'_

Or rather... stepped in it...

A pile of very fine dust. The kind he had only seen the likes of once before. The same kind the vampire, he had killed the night before, had turned into.

_'Shit...'_

Chrono stepped out of the pile again...

He was getting a bad feeling about this... but wasn't it what they had expected anyway? There had been no sign from the ones who usually guarded the mansion which meant that they had to be either dead or captured.

_'And thieves don't usually take prisoners.'_

But seeing the remains of a dead vampire here, was really unnerving – especially since...

The vampire raised his eyes again and looked around...

_'Not a single sign of a struggle...'_

Crimson eyes scoured the room intently for any hint as to who or what had done this, the vague howling sound of the wind picking up speed blended with the soft ticking of the grandfather clock out in the entry hall. Chrono suddenly caught sight of a pedestal he hadn't noticed before. It was empty, and it looked completely out of place.

_'Of course... the head...'_

It was right next to the panorama window too, so the theft had been easy to notice from the outside.

Should he go get Maggie...?

Probably no need to, the pile and the pedestal were going nowhere. He ought to check the rest of the floor first, to see if he could find out how the thief or thieves had come in. The window was completely intact so that was ruled out, and the airconditioning grate in the ceiling hadn't been tampered with as well... besides it was only five by five inches... way too small for anything to squeeze through, so either the thief could walk through walls or...

_'Must have come through one of the other rooms...'_

The vampire went towards one of the corridors with the intent of searching through the rooms for any signs of breaking in. Before he got so far as to actually reach the passageway his attention was stolen by a picture on his right side. It was almost as if it beckoned him... called for him to look at it.

'Dong...'

It was a portrait of a man, painted in renaissance style with its rich flair for color and excessive touch for detail. The frame was made of carved wood and painted gold.

'...Dong...'

The painting was beautiful, Chrono became almost mesmerized by it, he moved closer as it seemed to suck him in...

'...Dong...'

The man was sitting in a grand chair, looking directly at him, his right elbow placed on the armrest, his head resting on the hand, a slightly amused smirk across his lips...

'...Dong...'

One leg was crossed lazily over the other, on his left shoulder was a bird... a falcon? His left hand clenched the hair of a decapitated head which hung almost to the ground... a female head with long curved horns. _'that's it...'_

'...DONG...'

His facial features were handsome, long platinum-white hair flowed from his head and disappeared behind his back. Chrono slowly brought his hand towards the enchanting art piece...

'...DONG...'

He wore thin glasses, he had on a white suit, matching white pants. Everything about the man was pure white... shining with an inner light – in stark contrast to the darkened room he was sitting in.

'...DONG...'

His expression displayed... superiority... he was in control... his surroundings obeyed his every whim...

'...DONG...'

His eyes... strange... brilliant purple... their gaze bored deeply into Chrono's mind...

**'...DONG...'**

The portrait... so thoroughly perfected... everything so vividly painted... every detail so masterfully completed... Chrono lost himself... his senses... noting only the painting.

**'...DONG...'**

It was... alive...

**'...DONG...'**

Unable to resist anymore... unable to wrest his eyes the purple stare... as if he was beckoned by the strange man...

**'...DONG!'**

Chrono touched the frame.

**AUSPEX**

Fear...

"_**He's gonna kill me!"**_

Mortal fear... surging into him..

"_**I don't wanna die!"**_

He shook all over... uncontrollably... the fear... trying to drive him to his knees...

"_**But I'll die..."**_

It held him... entranced him... entered his mind... body... soul...

"_**I'll die if..."**_

He wanted to close his eyes... look away... he couldn't...

Paralyzed...

"_**If I can't..."**_

He had to get away... every part of him screamed 'run'...

"_**If I don't..."**_

But he couldn't...

He was... captured...

Completely swallowed by the magnetic fright which came from the stare of that platinum-haired man, held his body motionless and blinded him to everything else in room...

* * *

Oi, I'm ending the chapter here? Sort of a cliffhanger I suppose... 

So where has the head gone? Why does the Baron have a painting of Aion? What's this 'Auspex' ability all about? What is it that makes Chrono so afraid? Are there still anybody inside the mansion? Will Chrono ever get to try sleeping in a coffin? And what's the deal with mansions and loudly ticking grandfather clocks? Well... you'll get answers to some of those questions next chapter.

Btw... does it show I like the 'spooky mansion' setting? Well... I do. As with pretty much all of my other writing endeavours, this is my first time for writing some sort of spooky suspense stuff, and like always I'd like to hear how well (or how poorly) I managed to pull it off. Since I began writing the whole mansion thing as a single chapter but later chopped it in halves for dramatic purposes (and to annoy cliff-hanger-haters :p), the next chapter is actually quite far in its writing process at the time of this writing. That means I can most likely get it out fairly soon, but I'm probably going to want a bit of response to this one first though... no that does not mean 'give me x reviews or I won't update' more like 'tell me what you think and I'll be more motivated to spend time writing instead of (Insert random pastime activity).'


	8. 1,7: Thief of many Things

Author's 'hello':

First of all, Merry Christmas to everybody who's reading the story (wishing to those who isn't would be pretty hard ya know). With this chapter the story has finally progressed into being the longest I've written both word- and chapter-wise, which I suppose is somewhat of an achievement. The length of the plot means there's still a long way to go, and I hope I'll be able to finish it, because I think it's going to be the best I've managed come up with (or stitch together by stealing from various sources hehe).

Regarding that, I really want to say thanks for the reviews it has received so far, since they're what has kept me writing. On the same note I can't help but notice that only one person has decided to review the last chapter, and I must admit it's a bit discouraging considering what I had originally hoped for. I was probably too optimistic about the story when I first started it, but perhaps it just doesn't have quite such a broad appeal as some of my other ones.

If you're also reading 'Antichrist' I can say that I am in the process of making chapter two of that, unfortunately it's taking me longer than expected because even though I have the whole plot line in my head, and I have an outline for how several of the later chapters should be I actually hadn't considered how I would go about writing chapter two (now how's that for planning :-S )

Disclaimer: If I did own these characters, I would probably not be writing fiction with 'fan' in front – and I'd probably be richer too since I could make money off of them.

* * *

"Speech" 

_'Thoughts'_

EXCLAMATION!

**Supernatural thingies**

* * *

As any ordered society the Camarilla is based on certain rules – laws they may be called – which every Kindred must adhere to, in order to be considered a loyal member of the community. The most important is of course the masquerade, as violating it compromises the safety of every Kindred in the world. The second most important is the prohibition of diablerie – draining another vampire completely dry of blood. By doing so a vampire can draw out the entire essence of another vampire, and effectively obtain much of that vampire's knowledge, power and memory. For this reason alone it is practiced widely by the Sabbat sect since it allows its members to grow incredibly strong in a very short timespan. 

The prohibition of diablerie within the Camarilla can be viewed as a means for the Elders to limit the power of younger and perhaps rebellious Kindred. Truth is that Kindred as a whole are disgusted by the thought of it in much the same way that humans are disgusted by cannibalism.

As the name implies this act is considered nothing less than... diabolical.

* * *

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Chapter 7 – Thief of many Things

* * *

_'Another one...'_

Maggie knelt down.

Her fingers ran gently through what looked like gray flour.

_'That's the fourth...'_

The powder pile was quite innocent-looking – a large heap in the middle of the kitchen, which could imply that a servant had been interrupted while sweeping a very dusty floor.

She knew the cause to be much more sinister however.

_'What happened in here...?'_

Like all the others, there was nothing broken, nothing out of place, no sign of any struggle.

The nervous feeling rose in the pit of her stomach...

_'Not a single soul alive...'_

It was a feeling which had been steadily growing ever since she discovered the second dust pile.

Apart from the four dead vampires she had also found the body of two humans – daytime servants of the Baron perhaps. No signs of fighting were evident near those corpses either. Everyone in here had been murdered in silence and secrecy.

_'An Assassin...?'_

Maggie was really starting to regret that she had suggested for her and Chrono to search separately. Even though she had felt confident that the perpetrator was long gone there was still that tiny measure of doubt...

She looked around the large kitchen. As with all the other rooms she had searched the windows were completely intact and untouched, the doors were all unlocked, and there were no signs of anyone having broken in anywhere.

Maybe she should go and see how Chrono was doing.

_'Perhaps he's found something...'_

The thought was pretty self-delusional – it had nothing to do with the real reason. Her attention was suddenly captured by the sound of the grandfather clock.

_'Twelve o'clock...'_

It meant they had been searching for approximately twenty minutes now... not a very alarming amount of time spent.

But...

On the very last strike of midnight...

Fear...

Blue eyes went wide.

Overwhelming fear...

Coming from her childe!

Maggie immediately began running...

The fear coursed through every fiber of her body, prevented her from thinking straight and made her shiver unwillingly. She had sensed him being a bit afraid earlier, but she had identified that easily as being nothing but nerves. This was much stronger.

Tangible fear.

Fear of death...

_'God... Chrono... what's going on...?'_

She dashed out into the large hall – the feeling stopped...

This did not make her less scared or cause her slow down, not the least bit, because if he was afraid then at least he was still...

_'Oh no!'_

She covered the stairs in three big leaps... but now she had lost the trail. There were five doors on this floor, and she didn't know which one to take.

Suddenly the sensation came back. It felt a little more 'under control' this time, and it renewed the trail.

Maggie burst through the large double doors heedless of what might be on the other side.

The room was a large gallery, slightly illuminated by the light coming through the large panorama window in the opposite end, and filled to the brim with works of art . A rainstorm was gathering outside, and the view through the window was already becoming obscured by water.

Chrono was standing to her left with his back to her seemingly oblivious to her presence. His hand gently touching the frame of a painting...

"Chrono!" She exclaimed...

He didn't react...

"What's wrong?"

Still no reaction...

"You're frightened! What's..."

"The painter..." The purple haired interrupted in a velvety voice.

"...he was afraid..." He didn't turn around, apparently completely absorbed by the art piece.

"...when he made the painting..." His hand brushed the frame affectionately as if it was a pet.

"...he was afraid of this man."

Maggie's mind stalled for half a second.

_'Wow...'_

She was genuinely surprised. "You can sense that? From touching the painting?" She walked to stand beside him, his eyes were deeply focused on the white-haired man in the portrait. "I must admit I'm really impressed." She let her own hand touch the painting, and immediately felt the fear of the painter – he was indeed afraid of being killed by the one with the purple eyes. "It's not that strange he's scared... he knew what would happen to him if his employer wasn't satisfied with the result."

"You can do this too?"

"Yes..." Maggie answered in a hushed tone. "But..."

Crimson eyes turned to look at her... and their owner jumped back in surprise.

"...what's the matter?" The vampiress asked.

"You..." He said with a dumbfounded expression painted across his face. "You were... glowing?"

"I was?" It made sense though... since he had perceived the emotions of the painter he should definitely be able to see this too. Maggie leaned forward with her hands behind her back, and put on a playfully curious face. To claim she wasn't interested in his answer to her next question would be quite the big lie. "Then tell me... how did I look?"

"Uh..." Maggie found herself being more than a little amused at the ridiculous face he was making. "There was... this light...? Illuminating your body... it was sort of silvery... and uhh..." He shook his head slightly. "It was actually... really... beautiful..."

The vampiress smiled. "Why thank you... " Her 'inner girl' simply could not help making a tiny 'squee' from hearing his answer. "...I can honestly say that I'm flattered."

"But what does it mean?"

"It means that you perceived my aura... some like to call it a soul. It means that you have discovered what our senses can really do if we hone them... it's because we possess those senses that the Baron wanted us to do this investigation. They also allowed you to feel the emotions of the painter."

He turned his eyes towards the portrait of the white-haired man. "Amazing..."

"No, you're amazing." She snuck her arm around him, and pulled him a bit closer. "I've never heard of _anyone_ being able to do what you've done so shortly after their embrace."

He looked at her again, his arms finding their way around her back. "Have you seen mine?" That sounded so very stupid. "I mean my aura."

"Mmm... you're red."

'Tick...'

"I'm red?" The question was accompanied by a raised eyebrow.

'Tock...'

"Yeah... you know... bright, fiery red... the kind my mother probably should have warned me against."

'Tick...'

"I'm not exactly sure if I'm supposed to take that as a compliment or not." He smirked.

'Tock...'

An enigmatic smile and a kiss was all the response she gave him.

'Tick...'

_'Oh I think you do...'_

'Tock...'

The near silence was further broken by the sharp tapping of droplets hitting the window surface hard, the howling of the wind blowing through the weeping willow outside had become louder, and the light dimmed as dark clouds started to cover the moon.

"We should get back to searching..." Maggie said as she let go, her voice revealing that she'd rather not right now. "Have you found anything by the way?"

"Not much actually. The pedestal where the head was supposed to be is right over there..." He pointed towards an empty marble base near the window. "...and there's a dead vampire over there... or what's left of him, but there's no sign of a fight."

_'Same as the others...'_ The ominous feeling returned. "...I've seen a few of those too. Seems like everybody in here is dead... what's this?"

"What's what?" He looked at the blonde as she picked something up from the floor at their feet.

"Could it be that somebody has been careless?" The vampiress stood up while examining the evidence. It was a tiny piece of burnt wood. "It's from a match..."

She closed her eyes.

When she reopened them they had turned completely milky as if they were made of light blue sandblasted glass.

Her vision had become monochromatic, except for the charred remains of the match. It was a multi-hued glowing piece of information, and the colors swirled as she tried to focus on every being who had left an imprint on it.

A vampire not employed by the Baron for sure... several humans... all of them working at the same place... one of them... a waiter delivering room service...

"The Savoy..." She smiled. "...and definitely not belonging to a regular occupant of the mansion..." The red-eyed vampire stared at her as she divined the information. She blinked twice and her eyes returned to normal. "I still don't like that we don't know how they came in..." The blonde went towards the dust pile and kneeled down next to it. "...and that they managed to kill everyone within the mansion so easily..."

"I haven't found anything either..." He commented. "It's almost as if they had a key... or maybe one of the Baron's men let them in..."

"I don't believe any of the guards to have been disloyal... Dufaux is much too careful with the people he employs... he makes sure he can trust them completely – or, as in our case, makes sure that we have no choice but obey him. Somebody must have come in somehow..."

"But does it really matter? I mean... since we have a clue to where the head might have been taken we could actually call the search off now..." Maggie shot him a look of contempt. "Uhh... then again... I suppose we can keep looking. I haven't been in the rooms down the two corridors here." He motioned with his head towards one of the hallways. "We could go through them together if you want."

A strong gust of wind caught the vampiress' attention, it caused a spray of droplets to hit the panorama window harshly and a loud whistle could be heard coming through the grate in the ceiling. _'The air conditioning system...'_ She looked towards the sound _'...of course...'_ the blonde rose to her feet and walked to stand directly beneath the grate. "Why didn't I think of that... Chrono I think I know how they got in..."

The purple haired vampire glanced upwards with a skeptical look on his face. "You're saying that somebody came through ...that?"

"Some Gangrels..." Maggie's voice was even, and she became increasingly sure of herself. "...powerful ones... have the ability to turn into a mist and drift in the wind – they can only move slowly, but such a Gangrel could easily have let himself be sucked through the ventilation system..."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes..." She looked at the remains of the gallery guard. "...but then again..." Turning around again she went towards the pile of dust. "... it still doesn't make any sense..."

"Why...?" He sounded slightly annoyed with her indecision. "...it makes perfect sense... he came in here through the grate... slew the goon and then went to either let in his friends or proceed to kill the rest of the guards... you said he would have to be powerful, right?"

"But there's no sign of a struggle here... or anywhere... nothing broken... everyone killed in different places... as if they have all been assassinated using stealth..."

"So?"

"Gangrels aren't like that... they are strong and burly... extremely hard to kill... they are not stealthy... if he was killed by a Gangrel this room would have been turned upside down and the other guards would have been alerted for sure..." She let her fingers run through the flour-like powder. Something was...

Missing...

Something eluded her...

She needed to figure out what.

The vampiress blinked a few times, her eyes losing pupils and irises resembling light blue opaque glass orbs, her vision being slowly drained of colors again.

_'Oh my... God...'_

The pile...

It became colorless too... as gray as the rest of the world. Maggie began shivering as she realized what this meant...

_'Diablerie...'_

The girl stood up again, and looked at the grate.

There was something on it.

As she went to stand beneath the air duct, crimson eyes followed her intently – somehow it made her feel a bit scrutinized. She made a leap into the air, and stuck to the ceiling as if it had been covered by a strong adhesive layer.

_'What's this...?'_

She ran a finger over the grate, and the digit caught a bit of the residue there.

_'Plasma...'_

She descended to the floor again, looking at her finger with nervous eyes.

"A Tzimisce..."

The word was a whisper, and it was laced with obvious fear. Outside the rain increased and the room was suddenly illuminated brightly by a flash of lightning.

"Say what..." The violet haired man asked. He began walking towards her. "...'Tzee-mee-tse'? Maggie you really need to stop spouting words that I clearly have no chance of understanding."

"There is residue of blood plasma on the grate..." This was worse than she had anticipated. "...I don't think... the one who came in was a Gangrel after all... I think it was one from the Tzimisce clan... they are... not Kindred... all of them Sabbat... of all the vampires they are beyond doubt _the_ most inhuman..." She looked at him, and she found that she couldn't help trembling slightly.

Her childe went to stand beside her, taking her hand in his own, studying the remains of the plasma on her finger. "...I take it that's bad..."

'KRA-KOW!'

"Yes... it is... I don't know a lot about the Tzimisce... I've never actually met one." She glanced upwards again – "I've just heard that some of them can transform themselves completely into blood and move around..." That's the way he had come in... slithered through the ventilation system as a pool of blood... sneaked up behind the guard and killed him... drained him completely of all blood...

Another flash of lightning shot its sharp glare into the room, the rain struck the glass harshly.

The storm was picking up.

"I've heard that their senses are every bit as strong as ours, and they are capable of doing unspeakable things to others both humans and vampires..."

Her gaze was nervous, and she tried to control her voice... the thought of a Tzimisce really scared her. She noticed Chrono's thumb making small brushing movements over the palm of her hand – he was trying to calm and comfort her.

"I've heard..."

"I've heard they can even take the skin of another creature and mimic them to perfection..."

'KRA-KOW!'

And the thunderclap struck her with a dreadful realization. _'OH GOD NO!'_

Her eyes widened, as they went from 'Chrono' to the remains of a dead vampire...

A vampire she could not deduce the identity of...

Maggie pulled her hand to herself and took a leap backwards.

_'NOOOOO!'_

She shook all over...

The rain pounded incessantly on the window behind her...

"Before... I got here..." Her voice quivered uncontrollably.

The wind was beginning to scream...

"...you were afraid... you were afraid of dying..."

Another lightning ripped across the sky...

"You shouldn't be able... it couldn't _possibly_ have been the painting... learning that takes _years_!"

The vampire looked at her with an intense crimson stare...

"You... wanted to stop searching..."

Her eyes widened in unbridled fear...

"You tried to convince me the thief was Gangrel..."

The fear mixed with immense sorrow...

"You..."

Her teeth clenched...

And an immense rage began to boil inside her.

"You... _killed..._ him!"

'KRA-KOW!'

Her nails lengthened to claws, her canines grew, her gaze froze to sub-zero temperature.

"YOU DIABLERIZED HIM!"

With a bestial snarl the enraged girl lunged for the other vampire – claws extended, teeth barred, an expression and a voice devoid of humanity

**"FIEND!"**

The male vampire made a leap to the side, just before the claws reached him. Maggie spun around. Her speed was greater than his, she leapt towards the ceiling, from which she made a take-off propelling herself directly down upon the abyssal creature...

She caught him off guard, and drove him to the ground...

Her existence was lost in a storm of sadness and bitter fury... before the murderer had a chance to counterattack she drilled her claws deeply into his abdomen, closed her other hand around his neck, and squeezed.

_**'DIE!'**_

_**'DIE!'**_

_**'DIE!'**_

The abomination mimicking her childe made a gasping sound of pain... an excruciating sensation burst forth behind her eyes... _'Chrono...'_

"**MAGGIE!"** He managed to call out... **"STOP! IT'S ME!"**

Something in his voice touched her subconsciousness, and instinctively she tried perceiving his aura.

The blinding blue hate of her world was immediately penetrated by a warm, crimson glow resembling a gentle hearth... coming from within him... a pure glow revealing that this vampire had never diablerized anybody, a glow she had grown to know extremely well over a very short time. Her claws vanished, her teeth retracted and she immediately covered her mouth as she jumped off him...

_'Oh my GOD! What am I DOING?'_

The purple haired Kindred lay completely stunned on the ground, his eyes full of surprise as he looked at his sire who had just... attacked him?

"Please..." In less than a second the girl had wrapped her arms around his back, hugging him tightly and burrowing her head in his chest, as she pulled him into a sitting position. "...Chrono... I'm so sorry..." Her voice was breaking up. "...Please... forgive me... I didn't mean... God I'm so sorry."

"What the _hell_ happened..." Chrono asked wide-eyed... this was without a doubt _the_ most extreme 'mood-swing' he had _ever_ experienced in a girl, and to say that he was baffled was the understatement of the century. "I called your name several times... couldn't you hear me?"

"I..." Maggie scooted back, her vision lowered towards the ground and she looked consumed by guilt and embarrassment. "I... _frenzied...?_" She hid her head in her hands. "I haven't... done that in so many years... I'm such a horrible..."

Chrono had a hard time doing anything but simply stare at the anguished vampiress... his nerves were still in the red zone, and for several seconds only the aggressive sound of the storm outside and the ticking of the grandfather clock in the hall could be heard. But the young Kindred soon found that he couldn't stand to see his sire like this, and before long he reached out and pulled her towards him. The girl responded by wrapping her arms around him again, falling completely limp into his arms. "I'm so sorry Chrono... if you hadn't... I can't bear to think... what I could have done..."

"Then don't do that..." Honestly... he _really _didn't like to think about it either... or what had made her go nuts. "You said you frenzied?" He had to know however.

"I thought... I thought you were him... the murderer... I don't know why I became convinced of that... and the thought of you being killed by that... creature..." She tightened her hold, as if she needed reassurance that he was still real. "...it just made me go into frenzy..."

"And frenzy means going utterly berserk?"

"Yes... killing, feeding, fleeing... whatever the beast inside believes it has to do to survive... just like the three Sabbat thugs last night... I can't believe I did that... I can't believe I attacked you..." She pushed away from him, her arms still on his shoulders, her eyes looking at him nervously. "...please... can you forgive me?"

"I guess so..." His response was quite apprehensive... this was... unnerving to say the least. "This frenzy thing... it can happen to me too?"

"I think It already did last night when you fought the other vampire... but that was something else..."

Chrono's eyes turned serious. "Can't anything be done to prevent it?"

"Don't feed your Beast... don't give in when it wants something... it helps you stay in control... I really thought I could control it... I just..." She shook her head. "I don't know what you're doing to me... It's like I can't think rationally..."

"As strange as this sounds..." Chrono took in a deep breath... and let it out again... fortunately it seemed to have a calming effect even though he didn't need to breathe. "I suppose I can take that as a sort of compliment."

"Thank you..." She smiled meekly. "I really mean that... do you need some blood to help you heal, because I..."

"No... compared to last night this was just a scratch... and it's already gone... I'm gonna need some new clothes again though..." He looked at his suit. "But that might be a good thing."

Maggie couldn't help smiling a bit more now. "Why do you always end up making me feel better?" But God... she was so ashamed.

"Dunno..." He stood up offering a hand to her. "I did say I was a nice guy... comes with the territory I guess."

The vampiress took the hand, leaning into his embrace as she got up – part of her just needed the closeness right now, and it was almost scary how attached she was becoming to him. Outside the thunderstorm still raged, periodically lighting up the sky with massive electrical discharges, and sending torrents of droplets down onto the already mushy-looking ground.

"Could a single... what was it... Tzimisce...? Could he really do all this in here?" Chrono asked.

"Yes I suppose he could... he could have sneaked up on the guard, who most likely wouldn't know what happened before it was too late... after diablerizing him it would be no feat to mold himself into the form of the guard and kill all the others by pretending to be him... lacking our senses to see through the deception, they never had a chance..."

_'So that's the kind of creature we're after...' _The young Kindred got a sickening feeling in his stomach. "You said that before too... diablerize... what does that mean?"

"It means to suck out all the blood and essence... the soul even... of another vampire, in order to steal their powers."

The sickening feeling increased. There was something incredibly repulsive about such an act. "But, how do you know that's what happened?"

"Come here..." Grabbing his hand, Maggie led him towards the remains of the guard. "Do you remember how you did it, when you sensed the feelings of the artist? And how you saw my aura?"

"Not really... but I think I can do it again..."

"Well... give it a try. You should focus on the pile..."

Chrono didn't know exactly how to do this, but maybe if...

He blinked once...

If he just tried to concentrate...

Twice...

His pupils started becoming smaller and smaller...

Thrice...

and smaller... until they vanished completely. His irises seemed to grow larger, until they had encased the entire eyeball, and his eyes had turned into two globes of flaming crimson. The world became drained of color in his vision, and the pile at his feet was as dull gray as everything else around him.

"Every living being has an aura..." Maggie said, when she could see he had successfully invoked the power. "A corpse will exude a residual and slowly decaying trace of that aura which can be sensed weeks, months or even years after somebody's death..." He looked at the blonde, she was glowing with the pure silvery and peach glow he had seen before. "It's somewhat similar to a person having a smell and the smell will linger even after the person leaves. A diablerized vampire... has no trace. The aura has been drained completely, and absorbed by the diablerist."

Scanning the room in his new vision Chrono noticed how he could see faint traces of different life forces emanating from practically everywhere. Whether it was the faint afterglow in a statue – a spiritual fingerprint of the sculptor who had made it – or it was the bright glare from the branches of the weeping willow dancing in the wind like eldritch fireworks... everything had its trace...

His eyes caught sight of something...

There was something near the empty pedestal.

It was small... but very bright.

Glowing platinum...

He began walking towards it.

"What is it?" The vampiress asked.

He merely held his hand up indicating that he had heard her but was concentrating too much right now to respond. Kneeling before the pedestal he examined the thing more closely...

_'A Hair...'_

He picked it up...

And the world disappeared...

Leaving only...

Pure...

White-hot...

"_**CHRNO!"**_

Pain...

Pain unlike any he had ever experienced...

No...

Wrong...

Chrono didn't realize that he was falling backwards...

"CHRONO!" He didn't hear Maggie's frantic cry as she ran towards him...

He didn't hear his own scream either...

He didn't realize he was gripping his own temples in a vain attempt to stop what had already happened such a long time ago.

"What's wrong? CHRONO!"

He didn't notice that his sire had caught him and was desperately trying to stop him from thrashing about...

He didn't register anything except the torment surging through him from the wounds in the sides of his head...

_**'Broken...'**_

"Chrono... please..."

Maggie didn't know what to do. Chrono was screaming and writhing in pain, his face was twisted into an image of suffering and his eyes looked as if they were about to bleed. But she could sense nothing physically wrong with him. His aura shifted and churned... faded and brightened... as if he was dying at the hands of some unknown force but struggled desperately to live...

"Please... say something..."

She hugged the violently trembling body of her childe... this was too much... a few minutes ago she had believed him dead and it had sent her into an unbridled rage the likes of which she had not experienced since her family had been executed before her eyes.

And now he was suddenly sent into a fit of uncontrollable death throes, for no apparent reason at all.

It was all too much...

_'NO!'_

She had to remain calm, she could _not _be paralyzed with fear...

"I won't let you die!"

In a desperate attempt to soothe his pain she opened up her wrist with a claw, placed it over his mouth and forced her blood into him.

_'Please... it has to work...'_

The blood flowed freely from her arm, oozed out of the purple haired Kindred's mouth and ran down his cheeks and chin in thick streams. Heavy drops spilling onto his clothes and down onto the carpet. His seizures made it impossible for him to drink the life-giving liquid, but the girl simply pushed her wrist harder against his mouth, effectively sealing the exit so his body was forced to accept it...

With an almost gurgling sound he managed to swallow a large gulp...

_'Please...'_

and then another...

_'...let it work...'_

His thrashing slowly died down.

His aura became more stable.

Until he finally appeared to fall asleep in her arms.

The vampiress wrapped her arms tighter around him, cradled him like a mother shielding her child.

'Tick...'

'Tock...'

One at a time the minutes went by... the pace was beyond slow.

'Tick...'

'Tock...'

Outside the wind was beginning to die down, the thunderstorm was passing, and the rain had turned into a gentle drizzle. It didn't look to be clearing anytime soon though, and presumably the water would pour down from the sky for the rest of the night.

'Tick...'

'Tock...'

The ticking of the grandfather clock provided a steady rhythm and the blonde followed it as she rocked back and forth in a manner she hoped would be soothing to him.

'Tick...'

'Tock...'

Every once in a while the cloud cover obscuring the moon would thin allowing a faint glow to be cast into the gallery lighting up the two figures and all the exquisite pieces of art surrounding them.

'Tick...'

'Tock...'

At last...

After what felt like hours to the girl, his eyes opened sleepily, and looked around.

"Maggie?"

"I'm here..." She smiled... he was still taking in his surroundings and obviously he needed to find his bearings again, so she continued to hold him. "Just relax."

He allowed himself to rest a few more seconds before motioning for her to let go. He sat up looking out the window.

"Chrono?"

"Yes..." He turned towards her.

"What happened?"

"I don't..." He looked down. "...I don't know..." The platinum hair was on the ground, it had fallen out of his hand. "...and I don't know how..." He knew the hair came from the man in the painting. "...but I know what the thief looks like, and I know his name."

"You do?"

"It's Aion..."

* * *

And that's all for now. So Chrono and Maggie managed to get both a name and a face of the thief (don't tell me it came as a big surprise), and they even know where to begin looking for the head. I must admit that I liked how both Chrono's and Maggie's feelings manage to get the better of them, and if you're curious... yes the mansion was empty, and there was no actual danger (if you disregard the fact that Chrono could very much have been killed by his vision or by Maggie). 

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The next one will have quite a bit of action in it, as well as a goodly amount of different vampiric abilities. Since I am going away for a holiday vacation pretty soon (gotta get away from the cold, the rain and days which are only six hours long), and I wanted to get the chapter done before I left, you can consider it to be a sort of Christmas present from me. Who knows... perhaps there'll be a few for me in my email box too when I get back (hint hint... :)).

Bit of general info for those interested:

If anybody considers Maggie to be bit of a psycho (sudden rage-bursts and all that), I'll just mention that she's actually not because 'the beast' is inside _every_ vampire, and going into frenzy is an inevitable risk which they all have to live with (yes Chrono will get to experience difficulties of his own). It is simply the most profound incarnation of their predatory nature, and trying to preserve their humanity is a form of defense against it. There are other philosophies which can help keep control of the beast but they often involve a fairly inhuman mindset and thus are not really practiced by Camarilla vampires. They are much more common for Sabbat vampires especially Tzimisce (pronounced 'tzee-mee-tse' in case you forgot) who probably would go utterly insane if they had a human outlook on life – yes, they are a quite nasty bunch, but more about that later on.

Chrono has now also discovered all three powers inherent to Toreador vampires, and from now on he'll simply get better at using them. I saved the 'Auspex' ability for last since it's one of the most intriguing in my own opinion as it allows a vampire to vastly increase his/her perception beyond sound/sight/touch etc, and hence enables me to play around with the whole 'sixth sense' concept. When Chrono becomes afraid by touching the painting (an ability which enables him to sense what the creator of an object was feeling during the time of the object's construction), he is most certainly not invoking the simplest form of 'Auspex', and the reason why he can do this already on his second night... well, lets just say he's that good. It's also this ability which causes him to relive the pain of losing his horns and learn Aion's name and appearance from touching the hair. He divines this because of what happened in his past life, and as such Maggie would not have been able to extract that piece of information if she had picked it up.


	9. 1,8: The Beast Within

Hear Ye Hear Ye:

Oi... it's been a while since my last update hasn't it? Ah well, I'm tired of saying sorry for sporadic updates, so I'll skip that part. Although if you are aware of the workings of the demonic entities on the Internet rumored to draw people in, suck out their souls and commonly known under the abbreviation MMO (Much Money Outthewindow) you might have heard of a game called 'Vanguard' that launched recently. Yup... that's the one responsible for stealing a lot of my recent spare time (and time I didn't have to spare).

But anyway...

Regarding this story there was a little voice inside my head who began speaking up and wanted to put something in it that could enhance the mood. You might have guessed already what it is, as it is no revolutionary idea and plenty of other people have done the same – putting music to the text.

No, I'm _not _turning this into some sort of musical where people dance, or burst spontaneously into song for no apparent reason, but rather I'll try to put in background music certain places in the story to emphasize the mood I was looking for when I wrote it.

The way I'll go about this is that I'll generally find the tracks on the Internet before putting them into the story, so you don't need to go look for them youself. I will write in parenthesis during the chapter when a given track is supposed to be played, and since they for the most part are streaming links I will also write down the links needed to find the tracks at the beginning of every chapter so slower connections (dial-up) should have a decent chance of buffering the music before playing it. I'll try to keep the music suitable for the vampire setting which means that certain genres such as gangsta rap, country and Irish folk music probably won't make it into it (although I hold no animosity towards river-dancing vampires, I'm very open minded :p).

Of course if you don't feel like listening to the tracks but would rather listen to something else, or nothing at all that's perfectly fine, I'm not here to tell you what to listen to – this is just music I used as a means to find the right mood when I wrote the story.

If you do decide to listen, I'd like to know what you think (not about the music itself, but rather how it suits the story and whether or not it adds to it), as it does take me a bit of extra work to find these things on the net.

The music for this chapter is something which everyone reading this ought to be familiar with, and that is a couple of tracks from the CC soundtrack (bonus points for originality huh?).

* * *

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

EXCLAMATION!

**Supernaturality **(wooo me invent word)

Music:

CC Soundtrack Gospel 2 – 14 Make no Chikara / Negative Power

CC Soundtrack Gospel 1 – 3 Eksoshist no Theme / Exorcist's Theme (if that wasn't obvious)

CC Soundtrack Gospel 1 – 9 Hikari to Yami no Tatakai / The Battle between the Light and the Darkness (sure are a lot of the's in the translation)

These first three are supposed to be played in succession by making a winamp playlist (or similar).

CC Soundtrack Gospel 2 – 12 Chrno no Kanashimi / Chrno's Sorrow

CC Soundtrack Gospel 1 – 24 Geki no Kiuko / Tragic Memory

* * *

**Have to Feed,**

**because I _will_ not die.**

**Have to Feed, because I _will_ not die. Have to Feed, because I _will_ not die.**

**Have to Feed, because I WILL not die. Have to Feed, because I _will_ not die. Have to Feed,**

**becau_se I will not_ die. Have toFe ed, because I _Will n_ot die. Ha veto Feed ,because I _will_**

**not die. Have to Feed, beca use_ Iw _ill _not _die. _HAVE_ to Feed, bec ause _I_ _WILL NOT_ di e. _HAVE_ t o FEED, bec ause _I_ wi ll not _DIE_. Have to Fe ed, _BECAUSE_ I _wil l NOT_ di e. _HAVE TO_ feed, _BECAUSE_**

**iw _ILL_ n otd ie. ha _VETO_ fe ed, be ca _USE_ iwill _NOT_ d ie. have t _OF _e ed, be _CAUSE _i wi ll _NO_ tdi e. Hav e _TO _fe ed, bec a_ US_ eI wi **

**l lno t _DIE_. Ha ve to **

**_FEE _d, beca _USE_ iw _ILL_ _NO_ t _DIE_.**

**Ha _VET_ o _FEED_, b eca u se i _WILL_ n ot di e. _HAVE_ t o**

**fe _ED_,b ec a _USE_ I wi ll _NOT_ di e. h _AVE_ t ofeed, _BE_ c auseiwi lln ot**

**d _I_e. have _TO_ fe_ed, be c_au s ei _W IL_ L NO _T DI E. H_AV_Et OFe ed, b_ ecau se **

**IwI_ ll N O t D i_E._ Hav E to Fe E_D, _bEc a uS eIW i ll _N oTdi E. h_a Ve TOfE _ed_, Be C Au _**

**_SeI_ wIl_ l N otdi E_. h_A v eT o_feEd, b e_C au_ Se_I wi_ L_l nO _td_ iE. H_a v_et O_ F_eE d,_ B e_c Au_ S_E Iw_I Ll **

**_N _o td _ie . _Ha V_eT o_Fe _E_d, b_eC _aUs_E_I_w IlL _N oT_d Ie. H_a _vE _toF eE _d, B_eC Au_sEIwi_L Lno td_IE. H_aVe_toF_ e_e_d, _B_**

_**E C aU SeI Wi LL nO td IE. hAVet o Fe E d, BE**_** c****_ A_u sE_ IW_ iL LN oT _dI_ e. HA_ V e T_ _O_fe _E d_, _b_**

**_E _ca u s_ E_I W_ i_L l_N O_ tD i E. Ha Ve T o_Fe E _D, _B E c _Aus E i w i L _L_ n_o t_d i _e. H_a v_E ToF _E _ed, B_ e_c a U_s e_ i_ w i _L_**

**ln Ot dI_E. h_A_v e_t_ofe eD_, _b_E_Ca_u_S eI wIll_n o_t_D_i _e. Ha veT OFe Ed, Beca US eI wI Lln _O_t _D _i**

**_E_ . ha V_ E_ t O F e_E_ d, bE _C_ aU S _e I_ w I _L_ L_N_ OT _D _Ie. H Av eT O Fe E d , B Ec a US eI wI L ln _O_t _D _iE.H a vet _O_**

**_Fe Ed, B_e c_A_u sE_Iw_iL Lnot _dI_e. H_aV eTo_F e_E _d, bE cA_uSe I_Wi l_ Lno T _d_IE. Ha v_e To F_ee_**

**_D_ , be c_ a_u sE_ Iw_ iL LN ot _dI_ e. H_a V e T__O_fe _E d_, _b_ e_C_a u_S e_i wI _ll_N o_Td_ Ie. H _aV et_ _O_feEd, b _eC _a Us eI_w il_ ln _O_**

**t d ie . Ha V_ Et o F_eE _d, bE c A U Se_ _Ei Wi l_l NO _t DI _e. ha_ Ve to F_e _E D , _bE _Ca_ u**

**_S_ e _iw_i L_ln _O t_ d_i _E. H _A_v E_T _o f_E _eD_ , _b_E _Ca_U _S eIW_ _I L l_n _O t _D_i E_. _H A _v_E t_O _FE _e _D, b E_c a_U s _eI W iL _l n _o _t D_**

* * *

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Chapter 8 – The Beast Within

* * *

"So... you are_ completely_ sure about this?" The steady drumming of droplets hitting the car's roof was broken by the voice of a pale-faced man with steely eyes. He was looking out the passenger window still rolling the remains of the match between his thumb and index finger.

"Positive." The blonde girl responded from the back seat.

He turned around, eyes glaring at the two behind him from beneath dark bangs. The stare was completely void of emotion even as an amused smile crossed his lips. "I just find it a bit remarkable that you managed to extract so much from so..." the cinder was crushed between the two fingers "...little... that is all." A cigarette hung lazily from his mouth, and he took a quick drag of it. The idea of a smoking vampire seemed utterly pointless to Chrono, but perhaps the guy needed to occupy his fingers with something – hence the reason for holding on to the match until now as well.

The dramatization was utterly cheesy however.

Maggie shot the Ventrue a look of contempt. "If you don't believe us, you can go back to the estate and find your own leads... I'm sure the Baron will appreciate that considering that he wanted _all_ four of us to go to the Savoy together..."

"Are you done?" The annoyed driver asked, hazel eyes walking from one passenger to the other. Clearly he was a man with patience for neither detours nor fools.

The driver and front seat passenger, who responded to the names James and Morgan respectively, were the same vampires who had greeted Chrono and Maggie the night before. Neither were the least bit satisfied that they had been ordered to aid with the retrieval of the head. The news of a Tzimisce vampire being involved had heightened the severity of the situation, since the members of that clan often held considerable power within the Sabbat, and regardless of whether this had been organized by the sect or not, the Baron had deemed the extra manpower a necessary precaution in case things became ugly.

"Yes... of course... don't mind my obvious ignorance in this matter." The gray-eyed vampire extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray and stepped out into the rainy night – the other three followed shortly after.

They had parked a few blocks away from the hotel in a small and somewhat dismal looking alley. It might have seemed strange when they could easily have parked in front of the hotel, but there was actually a good reason for doing so. The reason was made known when the trunk was opened.

Chrono's eyes widened as the blanket was removed, revealing several large caliber Magnum revolvers and a couple of military grade assault rifles neatly tucked away in the compartment. He recognized them being similar in appearance to M1 rifles. His older brother had been trigger-happy from an early age – probably the main reason why he had gone to Korea – and he could talk for hours about weapons both big and...

well...

bigger.

Thus Chrono knew from a reliable source that a single shot from this rifle could 'drop at least 3 Japs at a distance of several hundred yards'.

Of course... _if_ they had the courtesy to stand in a straight line.

The one named Morgan grabbed one of the over three-foot long weapons as well as a couple of box magazines of which he loaded one into the rifle – it shouldn't have box magazines.

"That's not a regular M1 is it?" Chrono asked.

"It's an M14... brand new... recently designed for the military..." The vampire smirked. "...think of it as an M1 with full auto capabilities... packs a decent punch."

The driver also went and grabbed a rifle plus a few spare magazines, Chrono just stared questioningly at the weapons cache.

"No thanks." Maggie said when Morgan motioned for the remaining two to grab something for themselves. "I don't like guns, and besides..." She placed one hand on her hip. "...where, pray tell, would you suggest I carry such a thing without arousing suspicion?"

"Point taken..." Morgan strapped the weapon to his back and covered it as well as he could with the heavy trench coat. "...although you might distract onlookers with other... assets." The girl shot him a disapproving glance as he tucked one of the revolvers under the coat. "Take a couple of SW's. They _are_ somewhat powerful... although mostly good for weeding out kine."

"As I said: I don't like guns." Maggie's voice was becoming increasingly agitated.

"How 'bout you, fledgling?"

The sentence wasn't pronounced in a particularly patronizing or demeaning way, but hearing himself being 'labeled' again caused an involuntary growl to escape from the back of Chrono's throat. "I'll pass..."

"Lets go." James said obviously not wanting to get any more soaked.

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The Savoy was everything Chrono expected it to be: Fancy, expensive looking and with an uptight feeling permeating through the atmosphere. But it was also very quiet since most of the guests had retreated to their rooms by now, and apart from the drowsy looking clerk behind the counter, Chrono only managed to sense two others awake on this floor. They were in another room and one of them hardly seemed conscious – probably dead drunk.

The man behind the counter appeared to wake up as the four newcomers approached him. "I'm sorry..." He cleared his throat as he sized the four semi-drenched people up. "...we're fully booked several days ahead..."

Maggie stepped forward motioning for the three others to stay back. **"We're not here to rent a room..."** She leaned over the counter. **"..but a friend of ours booked one here recently."**

"Uh... and..." Whether it was by the view he was presented with, the undercurrent in her voice, or a bit of both was not obvious, but clearly the man was heavily affected and he almost didn't seem to register what he was saying himself. "...uhm... who might... ehh... this person be?"

"**His name is Aion..."** She shot him a smile capable of disarming a tank.

The clerk began shuffling quickly through the guestbook. He wasn't giving the ledger the attention of his eyes, as they repeatedly looked up at the blonde beauty in front of him. He gave her a nervous smile. "...ehh excuse me... what was the last name again?" What he hadn't noticed while leafing through the book was how the vampiress' eyes had followed the pages intently and had caught the glimpse of a name...

"**Why don't you check the penthouse..."** She suggested. **"It's his usual preference."**

"Ahh... yes you're right... a Mr. Aion has booked the room for the past few days... funny..." He scratched his temple. "...no last name."

"That would be him. Thank you so much for your help." She turned to leave.

"Wait..." The clerk became slightly agitated as if he began to notice that something was out of the ordinary "...surely you don't intend to pay him a visit now. Hotel policy prohibits disturbing the guests between 10 PM and 8 AM without a proper appointment." He sounded as if he was trying to convince himself. "But, since I can see that you are good friends of his I suppose I can make an exception. I'll just call his room to let him know that you're here."

He picked up the phone hook.

Maggie was just about to say something when Morgan stepped forward, placing both hands on the counter and looking directly at the startled clerk..

"**Put! Down! The! Phone!"**

The man's eyes turned blank, and he immediately did as the vampire commanded. "What... what're you...?"

"**Give! Me! The! Penthouse! Key!"**

With an expression devoid of understanding the clerk turned around and opened a safe where spare keys were kept in case of emergencies. The order to retrieve the key was executed with mechanical precision, as if his movements were completely controlled by another. As he handed over the key to the tall vampire his eyes went wide in fear. "What... what did you DO to me? I'm calling the police!" He reached for the phone again.

"**Sleep! And! Forget!"**

With the phone hook still in hand the clerk instantly slumped over the counter. After a few seconds his breathing steadied and became slower, indicating that he had indeed fallen asleep.

"Sometimes..." He turned around to face the other three. Chrono caught himself being a bit startled at how easily the human had been controlled by the gray eyed vampire. He brushed the feeling aside quickly, not wanting to appear more green than he already felt.

"...the direct approach is the most efficient."

"That was unnecessary..." Maggie said with a hint of scorn. "...I could have persuaded him to not use the phone." They began walking towards the elevator.

"Perhaps... but you would not have managed to get this." He held up the key dangling it in front of her eyes.

"Still..." The blonde challenged. "You ran a big risk there. He could have resisted your domination, and then we would stand with a serious masquerade violation on our hands. Besides you can't be completely sure that he has forgotten the incident." The elevator door opened allowing the vampires to step in.

"Now you're being hypocritical." The dark haired retorted. "As I recall you saved a kine last night. Might he not remember what happened to him? By allowing him to live you broke the masquerade." He pressed the top button and the letters 'PH' lit up. The door closed again and the elevator began moving.

"That was different... if left to the Sabbat he would have been drained – how would it have looked if a seemingly uninjured man was discovered dead with less than an ounce of blood left inside him? And besides, no one will believe an old man babbling about vampires." The argument was solid enough, but she knew her motivations for intervening were of an entirely different nature.

"You still had the chance of making it look like an ordinary murder... If you are that worried about upholding the masquerade, I find it hard to understand why you didn't... The bottom line is that if that kine had resisted me, we could have dealt with it easily and quietly... in fact, I would suggest we do that – perhaps make it look like an accident..." Chrono had previously felt a resentment towards this vampire, but now he was becoming truly appalled. "...in order to protect the masquerade."

The look of disgust Maggie shot him was met with a wicked grin revealing sharp fangs. "I thought as well..." He looked towards Chrono. "You Toreadors really care way too much about the kine for your own good... perhaps you _are _more akin to them than us..."

"Will you _stop _this?" James interrupted, having had enough of his partner's deliberate taunting. "This is _not _the time to fight among ourselves over nothing..." The stern look was met with silence. "Right now... we have a job to do, and I shouldn't have to tell you that it is important." He looked at the other three intently for a few seconds before taking off his coat and retrieving the assault rifle strapped to his back.

As if the weapon triggered some sort of mood switch, the atmosphere inside the elevator suddenly became very oppressive. Chrono's eyes walked from one person to the other – James was resting the M14 on his shoulder looking up at the numbers indicating which floor they had reached – Morgan was taking out his own rifle, his smirk had faded as also he looked to be getting ready – Maggie was staring blankly into the wall, still agitated but holding her anger inside.

The silence deepened further as the elevator continued upwards. It was momentarily broken by a 'click' coming from one of the rifles having the safety released. Chrono's attention went to one of the revolvers being held handle-first in front of him.

"Here..." Morgan said. "...there's no reason to be stupid."

Chrono looked at the other vampire shortly before accepting the handgun. He wasn't that used to firearms but had tried shooting a .357 revolver before, so at least he was vaguely familiar with this type of weapon. It was however quite a larger caliber gun than the 357. He quickly inspected that it was fully loaded before cocking it.

'Ding...'

The sound was followed by the elevator doors sliding slowly aside.

The room was a small softly lit entry hall. A single door with a golden plaque reading 'Penthouse Suite' was on the opposite side. A few plants were placed in the corners, but apart from that the room was empty.

"Strange..." Maggie whispered. "...I can't sense anything up here..."

Her words hit Chrono with a realization.

Neither could he...

Since the incident in the mansion he had been able to sense living (or unliving) beings, and he had quickly gotten used to feeling them all around him. But on this floor... there was no one but him, his sire, and the two Ventrues. "Perhaps... they're not here..." He suggested.

Maggie shook her head.

James cast a disapproving glance back telling them to be quiet, as Morgan went towards the door with the key in his left hand and the rifle in his right. He inserted the key and opened the door slowly.

The unlit room on the other side was devoid of people too, it was another kind of entry hall from which three more doors led further into the suite. Obviously this was where people put their shoes, coats and jackets as indicated by said pieces of clothing being present in the closet to the right.

_'Seems like somebody is here...' _Chrono thought.

James cast Maggie a glance asking her a silent question, but she merely shook her head again and closed her eyes, trying to concentrate.

Obviously not pleased with the response the hazel eyed Kindred began walking towards the leftmost door. He listened for a few seconds before motioning for the rest to approach. After a quick glance over his shoulder he opened the door silently casting looks left and right. Indicating that the way was clear he went further into the darkened room.

It was some sort of recreational room, there was a bookshelf filled with literature, a couch section were one could read, a solid sculpted marble chess table and a grand piano in one of the corners. The soft moonlight was obscured by the thick layer of water on the windows. Chrono felt Maggie's hand on his arm – she seemed nervous and her eyes were unable to rest. James and Morgan stood with their gazes fixed on a door which led to the right.

A soft light shone from underneath the door.

The two Ventrue went towards the door and placed themselves on either side of it. Morgan motioned for Chrono and Maggie to come stand beside him.

James held up a hand with five fingers.

Four...

Three...

Two...

One...

The Ventrue whirled around forcing the door open and entering the room as quickly as possible.

Chrono followed less than an instant afterwards with Maggie right behind him.

But nobody was in here either.

They were looking into a large study. Along the walls were more book-filled shelves – mostly for show. There was a large sliding glass door leading out to a balcony in the opposite end, and in front of that a dark wooden desk. The soft light came from the electric lamp on the desk.

He felt Maggie grip his shoulder... he saw it too.

On the right side of the desk, with a face frozen in an angry anguished scream was the head of a woman cut in stone. A woman's face so viciously beautiful that it could not possibly be human. Exquisitely terrifying as if the devil himself had crafted it to instill fear and desire into mortals. Two long curved horns protruded from its temples extending more than a foot from the head. Chrono was unable to wrest his gaze from the face. It was like he recognized it, and something kept banging on the inner walls of his skull in an attempt to be let out.

He almost didn't notice the body.

It was right beside the desk.

A white-haired man lying in a pool of his own blood. One of his arms extended upwards his hand gripping the desk as if he had tried to hold on to it for support when he died. Rigor Mortis setting in so swiftly that his hand was locked in place. He had fallen just next to the head. _'Is... that...?'_

James looked over his shoulder once before pointing towards the head. Morgan brought out a large cloth sack he kept under the jacket, and the two began to enter the room slowly.

"Wait..." Maggie whispered, halting the Ventrues. "...I don't like this." James turned around with a questioning look in their eyes, Morgan lowered his head in exasperation. "...the man over there, I can't sense him... it's like he's... gone..."

"He's dead..." The hazel eyed vampire stated the obvious.

"If he was human I should be able to sense his remnant aura... If he was Kindred I should too... If he had been diablerized, there should only be dust left... I don't like this..."

"Tell you what." Morgan broke in getting weary of all the apprehension. "Let's retrieve the head, get out of here, and discuss peculiar observations afterwards."

"I'll go get it." Chrono said taking the bag, earning an approving glance from the dark haired Ventrue.

With the revolver ready in his right hand and the bag in the left the young Kindred began making his way towards the art piece... if he could even call it that.

_'Petrified remains of a demon queen...'_

Following closely behind him was James and Maggie. Morgan guarded the doorway.

The agonized expression of the female head bore deep into his mind. There was something about that face...

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

The outburst came from James, and when Chrono whirled around he saw the Ventrue's face frozen in fright.

"WHAT'S THAT?" The hazel eyed pointed ahead of him.

Chrono spun around again and saw nothing. "WHAT?"

"THAT!" The previous silence was further broken as the M14 was fired, shattering the glass door, emptying the magazine into the night.

"JUST GET THE DAMN HEAD!" Morgan yelled.

(CC Soundtrack Gospel 2 – 14 Make no Chikara / Negative Power, CC Soundtrack Gospel 1 – 3 Eksoshist no Theme, CC Soundtrack Gospel 1 – 9 Hikari to Yami no Tatakai / The Battle between the Light and the Darkness. (Played in succession))

There was a screech inside Chrono's head...

_'Bird...'_

A Vision forming behind his eyes.

_'Eagle...'_

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" James toppled backwards trying frantically to reload his weapon.

"_**Long time no see... Chrno!"**_

Crimson eyes turned to the desk.

There was a man in the chair now...

With purple eyes...

And long platinum hair.

And the young Kindred sensed something. "MAGGIE! LOOK OUT!"

The warning came at the very last second as the pool of blood quickly rose behind the girl shaping into a statuesquely beautiful woman with dark burgundy flowing hair. Her arms transformed into spidery appendages and the blonde barely avoided the slashing claws with a leap to the side...

A mist gathered in front of Morgan, solidifying into a large bear-like man with small eyes and a vicious dental set. He let out a growl and struck after the Ventrue who immediately pulled the trigger...

Chrono felt a fist hammer into his midsection with a force that sent him flying into the bookshelf behind him with a loud crashing sound.

"TOUCHE!" Yelled the white-haired man who had lied next to the desk. He leapt towards the purple haired vampire.

Chrono immediately delved into his blood to summon his powers.

His speed allowed him to evade his attacker. He rolled to his back and shot...

The white haired man twisted his body so quickly the bullet didn't even remotely connect with his flesh.

He hissed revealing elongated canines and milky white eyes. "HAHAHA!"

Grinning madly he made a dive straight towards Chrono who didn't react fast enough. The maniac apprehended his gun-arm, swung him around like a throwing hammer, sending him into the other wall. "YOU'RE FUN!"

"Leave me alone..." James had fallen to his feet blabbering to himself, "Leave me alone..."

Morgan had emptied an entire magazine of ammunition into the chest of the half-giant vampire, momentarily halting him. He quickly reloaded and sent another salvo into him trying to drive his target back.

Maggie's was trying to break through the defenses of the spider-like woman with her claws, but even though the red haired couldn't match the blonde's speed, she made up for it with skill and... appendages...

Whenever Maggie had tried to exploit an opening, a new spider-like claw had simply burst through the skin of the woman, and now she possessed no less than six wickedly serrated bone claws – each one the length of an entire arm. A hungry look was plastered across the red haired's face as if she was somehow appraising Maggie's body. The stare reminded the blonde of a junk-yard worker scavenging a car wreck for usable parts, and it sent a chill through her very soul when she realized what was going through the woman's head. She knew that this was the Tzimisce who had killed off the entire mansion.

Maggie made a backflip over a chair in order to escape a stabbing claw. At the same time another chitin claw slashed towards her wrist rending the flesh all the way to the bone. Maggie winced in pain leaping as far away from the Tzimisce as possible, while clutching her shredded wrist. She had to make another leap into the air as the claws once again struck after her...

From his chair behind the desk Aion viewed the chaotic fight casually. One of the Ventrues were down and helpless. Chrno had not regained much strength, and Gerard (Jerai as he preferred) would handle him easily. Vincent would also soon teach the other Ventrue why you don't use guns against a vampire – especially a Gangrel. Riselle was having a bit more trouble with the blonde girl who had sired Chrno, but all in all everything seemed to go just fine. "Shade..."

"Ohhh... The father of white wants conversation?" A high-pitched voice chirped from nowhere.

As Malkavian went she was actually very easy to understand... if a bit eccentric. "We should prepare to leave shortly. I think we have outstayed our welcome here."

"A wish... shared by our voices..." She sang back. "...a venture... questing from obscurity to prophecy..."

Aion smirked as he sensed her leave. So... alike... every one so alike in both name and demeanor. He cast a glance towards the sky.

_'You really do have a fetish for irony... don't you?'_

"HAHA! YA MISSED!" The fifth bullet from the Magnum was ducked by the white haired, and Chrono was rapidly running out of options. This opponent was nothing like the one last night. He was skilled, incredibly fast and on top of that...

Chrono threw himself to the floor, ducking to avoid the full-sized bookshelf which had been hurled towards him as easily as one would throw a tennis ball. The large wooden furniture piece shattered against the wall above him with a deafening crash sending broken wooden planks raining down on top of him. "COME ON!"

The young Toreador leapt sideways pretending to escape.

"WHERE'RE YOU GOING?" The supposedly blind vampire grabbed a metal floor lamp and covered the distance between them in a single jump, preparing to make a wild swing.

Chrono knew this was going to hurt, but he had no choice. Just before the metal lamp collided with him, he twisted his body around, and aimed straight for the vampire with the milky eyes.

'BANG!'

The gun went off, and the other was so focused on striking that he didn't care about protecting himself. Immediately afterwards the lamp struck Chrono in the chest, cracking ribs and sending him hurtling into the remains of the shattered bookshelf... he felt like half his torso had been ripped out, and the other half had been squashed, but it had been worth it, because the bullet had caught the white haired right between the eyes.

Chrono tried getting to his feet when he saw a pair of boots in front of him...

"Nice shot." The voice held approval and definite malice. It made Chrono's eyes widen as he looked up to see the very same vampire standing above him, smiling and with a rapidly healing wound in his forehead. _'That's not possible...'_

It was all Chrono managed to think before he was picked up and punched so hard in the midsection that the hand went straight through his stomach, crushing his spine and blasting a crater in the wall behind him...

Morgan was emptying the fourth magazine into the ogre-like creature in front of him, and still he was getting driven back towards the wall – how much could this guy take? The slash wound across his chest he had so carelessly received was still trying to heal. He reloaded a fifth magazine, but before he could shoot again, the M14 was crushed in the grip of a massive paw-like hand. Another hand grabbed the steel-eyed vampire. It encircled his entire chest and lifted him off his feet.

"**LET! GO! OF! ME!"**

The gangrel smiled revealing his bestial dental set. "I obey only _one_ master!" The other paw closed around the waist of the Ventrue and pulled.

A tortured scream escaped Morgan's lips as his lower body was violently separated from his upper. A sound in between the crunching a of cracker and the bursting of a water balloon could be heard as gallons of blood and remains of intestines appearing to come from a man long dead spilled from his split torso. The broken spine hanging from the upper body was the first part of him which began to disintegrate...

Maggie didn't know what to do... the vampiress was wearing her down since she had to continuously use her blood to keep her speed up. The grinning Tzimisce showed no signs of exertion, and even though she had managed get in a few strikes, the cuts had healed rapidly. Again she tried to lunge for an unprotected part of the spider-womans body but her claws were deflected and she had to twist in mid-air not to be stabbed by two other appendages that shot straight for her chest.

She could not outlast this woman...

Aion was still regarding the battle lazily. With a little smile he rose from his seat and pulled out a katana from beneath the desk. He went to stand before the blubbering man who had been driven insane by Shade's power. _'Such a weak will...'_ With a clean sweep he separated the vampire's head from his shoulders.

Chrono was barely conscious. He knew he had once more been thrown through the room, and was lying face first in a pile of rubble. A pool of blood was beginning to amass below him as he could not keep the crimson liquid inside himself. A trembling hand went to his stomach... there was a fist-sized hole through his abdomen directly into his innards, and his hand tried to stop the life from dripping out of him...

**'No...'**

He had to will himself up, he could not lie here... he would die for sure...

**'I _will_ not die...'**

He rose to his hands and knees still clutching his abdomen, trying to keep everything inside in place. What could he DO?

**'Must...'**

What could he DO?

**'Feed...'**

"You're tougher than I thought..." The white haired said amiably. "How about we share a DRINK!" He hurled a bottle of strong liquor at the young Kindred. It smashed against his skull and momentarily drove him into the ground again... Chrono stared up with unbridled fury in his eyes... he was going to kill this one...

Jerai took a drag of a cigarette he had lit... "DAMN! Those are some fiery eyes... here... goes along with it..." He flicked the cigarette towards the crimson eyed Kindred who was still trying to recover and get to his feet.

It instantly set the liquor on fire...

**'AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH...'**

The cry inside his mind was matched by the one coming from his lungs, Chrono toppled over in mortal pain as the fire began devouring his flesh and evaporating his blood... his healing power worked overtime to try and quench it and his reserves were depleting at an alarming rate. He writhed in a desperate attempt to snuff out the flames, his fists pounded into the floor and his scream filled the room...

"WOOOOHOOOO! HELL YEAH!" Jerai exclaimed as he struck the air with his fists, and danced around himself. "BURN, BABY! BURN!"

The smell caught Maggie's senses almost before the sound of Chrono's scream. Her own world went into slow motion as she saw the purple haired man fall down face first onto the floor, yellow flames licking up his body...

He...

Her eyes widened.

Chrono...

Her lips retracted exposing an animalistic snarl.

Her childe...

And an inhuman sound began emerging from the back of her throat.

was BURNING!

With a howl of fury, eyes drowned in rage and heedless of danger the blonde vampiress leapt straight for the Tzimisce woman in front of her. With newfound speed and strength she caught hold of two of the claws and flung the vampire aside so she could get to Chrono.

Jerai didn't sense her coming and she struck for his face before he could react. Her claws found their way into his eyes, and she drove them viciously into the sockets so only the innermost joint of her fingers were still visible. With a growl from deep withing her throat she threw the white haired vampire to the ground, clearing the path to her burning childe.

Completely controlled by instincts, she grabbed his limp body and made for the nearest escape. The fire burned her arms and her chest, but her enraged mind refused to notice it. Only one thing was going through it right now.

_**'Safe...'**_

The girl leapt over the desk and through the shattered glass door. A second leap sent her over the handrail of the balcony, and plunging towards the ground faster than the falling raindrops in a frantic flight from the top of the Savoy...

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"THE BITCH!" Jerai yelled still lying on the ground and clutching his face in his hands. He stood up shakily, moving towards the balcony to give chase. "I'M GONNA KILL THAT FUCKING BITCH!"

"Easy now..." Aion said casually, putting a hand on Jerai's shoulder to restrain him. "...let them run..."

The vampire spun around angrily, milky eyes casting a mutinous stare at his superior. Vincent and Riselle immediately came to stand beside the platinum haired demon. The large man having a stern look in his eyes saying 'don't'. The spidery woman with an expectant look in her eyes saying 'oh please do'.

Jerai let out a low grunt of resignation and went over to kick the pile of dust formerly known as James.

With a small sigh the platinum haired demon went towards the remains of the glass door, extending his arm out into the night air and letting his hand catch a few of the raindrops falling down from above. When the girl had made her escape he had done nothing but watch. He could have stopped them... had he wished to. But... he was not meant to intervene. If Chrno and the girl were supposed to flee, then he would let them, because every little thing was part of a greater whole.

After all...

He glanced towards the skies from where the droplets kept coming.

He...

Believed.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

She ran and ran...

She didn't know where she was going and she wasn't thinking about it.

_**'Find... Safety...'**_

It was all that went through her head. An instinct telling her that there was danger.

The burning had stopped.

_**'Rain... water... good...'**_

The stone and brick constructions rushed past her vision. Some of them had lights in them, and there were lights out on the streets too... too many lights. She needed to go somewhere to hide.

_**'Too... bright...'**_

There was nowhere to hide.

For how long she ran, she did not know, but at some point she came to a large metal gate. On the other side were trees, bushes and no lights.

She cleared the gate with a leap and ran into the park. She liked it better here, there were nobody nearby, and it was dark. Several stone constructions were evident scattered around the park, some of them just sculpted chunks of rock, others like small shelters...

_**'Shelter...'**_

The word rang through her head pleasantly and she knew it was synonymous with safety. Activating her senses of perception she quickly discovered one where she could hide. The little stone building had a secret... A rock in the back wall able to slide... In there they would be safe.

With one arm she ripped the rusty gate off its hinges and entered the small shelter. Pushing aside the rock in the back wall revealed a hidden stairway which she promptly ran down. The ceiling was low, the air was moldy and the stairs ended at an archway leading into a single rectangular room with no exits.

She dropped to her knees, hugging the precious thing in her arms close, and as the seconds went by in silence her consciousness slowly reemerged.

The events came back to her, and she immediately loosened her grip on Chrono...

She had to see how bad his condition was.

An expression of misery rose to her face as her eyes began to inspect him...

His midsection was literally crushed, a massive hole the size of a fist had been drilled into his stomach, smashing muscles and bones . He was horribly burned... every inch of skin was blackened... some places even crispy... His face was almost unrecognizable... what little hair was left had melted to his scalp in large black blotches. Bones were visible through his cheeks as patches of flesh had peeled off. His mouth displayed a venomous snarl because the taut skin had pulled back what remained of his lips. His eye sockets were sunken and shut... a viscous transparent fluid exuded from inside them...

_'no...'_

She had to cover her mouth at the sight of him. An ache in her chest the likes she hadn't experienced for decades threatened to overwhelm her. She moved the hand towards where the pain was, but could feel no beat.

How could something which had been dead for so long still hurt so much?

The pain traveled to her eyes too, and increased to an excruciating scorching as she felt the first drops of liquid form in them.

Without thinking any more she hugged the body of her childe close, and brought his mouth towards the crook of her neck...

(CC Soundtrack Gospel 2 – 12 Chrno no Kanashimi / Chrno's Sorrow)

_'please... drink...'_

She forced the jaws to close around her flesh, and the teeth to penetrate her skin. It hurt a bit... the feeling of pleasure only present when a vampire consciously fed...

Pushing her own blood out hurt too, but it didn't matter.

He needed blood to live.

Lots of blood.

Slowly the warm tingling sensation in her body emerged, as he began to actively feed from her. The spark of life within him had been so weak... but he wanted to live so badly that it had refused to fade away. A little smile spread on her lips... she could feel the crispiness of his skin softening, new hair growing out already...

_'You'll be alright... I promise...'_

Her thoughts were suddenly assaulted by the fact that they had failed to retrieve the demon head... and it would be too late now. She realized what this meant... to be illegal... to be hunted... to be made an example of...

How were they going to make it?

How would they get by?

She didn't know.

There were lots of things she didn't know.

She had just wanted him to be alright.

Her hands found their way to his chest and gently pushed him back...

His arms immediately shot around her.

Maggie let out a gasp in surprise...

She hadn't payed attention, he had been feeding from her continuously and was now holding her tight in a steel-like grip.

She tried pushing harder, but he resisted, holding her face back with his other hand as he kept drinking from her neck. A feeling of dread rose in her as she discovered she could not fight him. He had become so strong in so few days, and now that strength was pitted against her. The burning pain in her eyes returned violently. This time she could not hold it back, and droplets began pushing themselves out.

_'Please... Chrono... don't do this...'_

She was incapable of speaking, incapable of breaking free, incapable of fighting her childe who drank her life away.

But for some reason...

As her consciousness began to fade...

The concerns going through her mind...

They were not for her own life.

They were concerns for him.

She only wanted him to be alright.

As the droplets ran down her cheeks, staining her blouse and the ground beneath her, she realized something.

_'You...'_

She realized that she wasn't afraid of dying at all.

_'...made me feel...'_

She realized that she didn't mind giving all of her life to him, if it could make him well.

_'...something I...'_

She realized what that scary familiar warmth he had managed to light inside her was.

_'...believed was impossible...'_

And as her arms tightened with the last of her strength, wrapping around the man she would give everything, she realized what she had always been afraid of...

Dying

Alone

That would never happen now...

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

(CC Soundtrack Gospel 1 – 24 Geki no Kiuko / Tragic Memory)

People talked about it the following days.

That some sort of large animal must have found its way into the heart of Los Angeles. Several had heard the sound on that very night. Whether it was the homeless man on the street or people who had been woken up in the middle of their peaceful sleep – they had all heard the same thing and described it similarly.

But nobody had an adequate explanation for what it could have been.

The curious had searched through the park the following day.

No trace of any beast was found.

Still the rumors wouldn't die down, but kept circling in and outside the neighborhood.

And among those who had actually heard the piercing sound shredding through the night, as well as those who had merely heard about it from someone else, almost everybody agreed

Something had been in the Forest Lawn memorial graveyard that night, and under mysterious circumstances simply vanished again.

Some sort of great beast.

Something... inhuman.

Because clearly no human could be capable of making such a melancholic and heart-shattering howl.

Like a demon crying out its agony towards the heavens.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Three nights Chrono spent searching through the dismal stone tomb.

_**'They . . .'**_

Three nights he spent with wide, maddened eyes scouring over the floor, gathering every last piece of dust there was.

_**'. . . will PAY!''**_

Three nights he spent making sure that not a single part of her would lie forgotten in this darkest of pits.

_**'They . . .'**_

The three following nights he spent making the urn which would hold her.

_**'. . . will HURT!'**_

Three nights spent with his claws relentlessly hacking at the hard rock and repeatedly breaking off from his efforts, blood caking his fingers and hands.

_**'They . . .'**_

Three nights where he obsessively carved and sculpted the container without any tools, trying to form something worthy of holding her beauty.

_**'. . . will SUFFER!'**_

Six nights in total did Chrono spend making the resting place for his beloved sire, which he would carry with him forever.

_**'They will . . .'**_

Six nights during which his mind became increasingly consumed by thoughts of slaughter, as he fell further and further towards his inner beast.

_**'. . . ALL! SUFFER!'**_

And on the seventh he would go out to exact his revenge.

**To be continued (obviously)**

* * *

So that was the end of Maggie, the end of Chrono's optimistic outlook on the future (as well as a good deal of his humanity), and the end of what may be called 'Book One'. Also it was the first blatantly obvious CC ripoff (if you hadn't seen this one coming my skills at obscuring things are apparently a lot better than I give myself credit for), of which there of course are bound to be more.

Hopefully the whole thing served to give a good introduction to the setting, the background, and some of the characters which was the main reason for starting the story here. Of course the characters are taken directly from CC, since I really didn't feel like coming up with a bunch of OC's when I liked the original set up. (Or maybe I'm just not very creative... oh well)

And since it's been a while, I thought it might also be nice to see how the cast is doing...

Rosette: BOO-YAA! In your face wench!

Magdalene: Oh, shove it!

Rosette: How do like it now? HUH? Being all dead and gone? Now it's _my_ turn!

Magdalene: I don't really care actually.

Rosette: HAH! You're soooooo jealous! I _knew_ you'd never get Chrno, cause you know what? He's mine! HAH!

Chrno: (From other part of room) Goddammit! Not THAT way!

Magdalene: Sure... go ahead... you can have him.

Rosette: And there ain't a thing you can do about it! You can just sit here and... ehh... what did you say?

Magdalene: (Rolling eyes) I said 'you can have him'.

Joshua: Hey it's MY turn now!

Rosette: WHAT? NOT FAIR! You're supposed to be jealous!

Magdalene: You know what? I'm not. Considering his track record.

Rosette: What's that supposed to mean?

Magdalene: Well... he's now been in love with me twice, and he's killed me both times, so quite frankly I've had enough. And need I remind you that he's done the same to you? He obviously kills the girls he falls for.

Chrno: Just one more, I think I'm getting the hang of it.

Rosette: What? NO! He wouldn't! Not again!

Magdalene: (on her way out) Face it little girl. You're going to get killed by him. It's just a matter of how long it takes him...

Joshua: I've waited FIFTEEN MINUTES!

Rosette: NO! I don't believe... CHRNO!

Chrno: Just a sec...

Rosette: NOW!

Chrno: Aww...man... you made me miss, and I was so close to beating my record...

Joshua: Hey! My turn now!

Chrno: NO WAY! I lost it because of her!

Rosette: (Stomping angrily towards Chrno) Tell me! Are you gonna kill me again in this story?

Chrno: ehh...

Joshua: Uh oh...

Rosette: Well?

Chrno: I ehh... I don't know...

Rosette: WHAT? YOU ARE? Because if you are... (Waving fist menacingly)

Chrno: (Helplessly) But... It's not up to me... I'm just following the script! And I don't know... honestly... I don't know what's going to happen in the story!

Rosette: (Sneakily) Then we need to steal the script so we can see...

Chrno: HELL NO!

Rosette: Why not?

Chrno: Cause it's the author's dammit... and I've heard he can do things... terrible things... and if we read it and it says that I'm gonna kill you, you'll beat the crap out of me so I'd rather not know...

Rosette: (Moving closer puppy eyed) But... Kurono...

Chrno: Ehh...

Rosette: (Leaning in) If... we get the script...

Chrno: Ro-Rosette?

Rosette: (Seductively) Then... we could... add... something...

Joshua: Hey... guys... I'm still here...

Chrno: Uhh...

Rosette: (Brushing hand down his chest) You... know... (hand going lower towards waist)

Joshua: Uhmm... could you guys leave... or something...

Rosette: Something... you might... like... (Hand finding Chrno's hand and snatching object out of it) SUCKER!

Chrno: HEY! CHEATER! Give me that Wii remote!

Rosette: Nuh-uh! You've been hogging the Wii ever since we got it. It's my turn now!

Joshua: No it's not, it's mine, I've been waiting for ages!

Chrno: But I was just about to beat my high score in hitting the bullseye in that tennis thing...

Rosette: (looking at TV screen questioningly) You've hit it... twice?

Chrno: Well... it's not exactly easy...

Rosette: Stand back. I'll show you how it's done... smaaaaaaassssshhhh SERVE (Loud crash)

Joshua: Holy sh...

Rosette: oops...

Chrno: You... you threw the remote into the TV...

Rosette: I DIDN'T MEAN TO!

Chrno: There's a strap to go around the wrist, so you don't do things like that!

Rosette: But _you_ didn't use that!

Chrno: My motor skills aren't a HAZARD TO MY ENVIRONMENT.

Rosette: It's all your fault! You should have _told_ me I needed the strap on, you know me!

Joshua: (Buckling over in laughter)

Rosette: What so funny?

Joshua: Ehehe... I don't know if that's a good idea... I mean you... with a strap-on...

Rosette: Oh... ha ha Joshua...

Chrno: All _I_ wanted was a game of tennis...

Joshua: I'm serious Chrno. You'd better watch out cause I think she's kinky.

Rosette: Yeah hilarious... now shut up!

Joshua: She'd probably like to tie you down... literally. And do all kinds of freaky shit to ya.

Rosette: SHUT UP Joshua!

Chrno: And now... there's not even a TV...

Joshua: And don't turn your back to her or anything...

Rosette: SHUT THE HELL UP!

Chrno: What's the point of having a Wii, when you haven't got a TV...

Joshua: Cause... when you least expect it, she'll sneak up on you and... BAM!

Rosette: Alright that's... IT!

Joshua: (Running) HELP! I'm being hunted by my sister! AND SHE'S A PERV!

Rosette: (Giving chase) I'M NOT!

Chrno: Just one lousy game of tennis... but nooo...

Well... good to see the cast is doing great. And Rosette playing Wii... Gotta admit it could have gone a lot worse than just a TV, couple of my friends got one of those – quite the addictive little thing I'd say...

Another thing... since I haven't bothered my brother with these stories for quite a while, it means that I'm doing both alpha and beta-reading myself. I believe that I'm catching the majority of grammar and language errors, but since the chapters usually are in the 5-10K word range, there's bound to be slip-ups. So if you find something that needs correction please let me know, so I can fix it.


	10. Violent Interlude

A/N:

Hi again... here's a little quick update... it's not a full-fledged chapter but more a bridge-thing between 'book one' and 'two'. Therefore I'll keep it short and wish you happy (or unhappy whatever suits you) reading.

The music I structured this around is a bit rougher piece called 'Inri' by industrial band 'Psyclon Nine', it's not what you'd normally call a terribly pretty song but then again this is not a terribly pretty installment in the story. It can be found at:

vampirefreaks. com/ u/ psyclon nine

(Again remove spacings and put an underscore between 'psyclon' and 'nine')

There is a player which should allow you to stream it directly (works for me at least :) ), you just need to choose the song first from the player (song number 4 at the time of writing). Unfortunately the player is a bit annoying since it doesn't stop when it finishes playing a song, so if you don't feel like hearing them doing a cover of a Ministry song afterwards you need to stop the player after the song's finished (You may feel a need stop it before that heh...)

A few words about it: I don't really consider myself to be a die-hard fan of the aggrotech music genre but I chose this one because of the rage and loneliness I feel is evident in the song. Furthermore the vocals are quite harsh-sounding and can easily be considered to come directly from Chrono's inner beast, and as such the things written in bold are supposed to be the 'voice of the beast' as well as being lyrics taken directly from the song (if you read at about my reading speed they will appear in the chapter about the same time as in the song). I suppose all this sort of makes this into a songfic but I dunno... I just thought it worked nicely.

POV is not Chrono's (some later point in time it'll be explained who's it is)

* * *

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Violent Interlude

* * *

(Psyclon nine - Inri:

vampirefreaks. com/ u/ psyclon nine)

This...

I close my eyes tightly in an attempt to block out everything and pretend I'm in a bubble of dark safety.

Is...

I cover my ears trying to keep the screams of dying people out of my head, but they still penetrate through my defenses.

Pure...

I grind my teeth together... it makes my jaw ache and I don't know why I'm doing it, but I can't seem to stop.

The deafening crash makes me scrunch up, my arms shoot up to protect my head as I duck down further behind the chair, trying to will myself to sink into the floor.

Madness!

Soon after follows another scream. A scream of a man in mortal pain.

A scream which only lasts a few seconds before it is cut short.

My whole body is trembling violently. I want to get up but my legs won't respond. My mind begs me to run away, but I have no control over my muscles.

I can't will myself to move... because...

Because I know...

I know exactly why that man's scream was cut short.

I know what it is, that's causing the whole mansion to sound like the center of a desecrated battlefield.

I know...

Because I saw... _It._

I was there when it came crashing through the roof of the entry hall...

I was there when it hit the great marble statue, making the colossus topple over with just a single strike...

Part of the statue literally exploded from that hit...

As if someone had filled it with 808...

I was there when its claws ripped one of the servants to shreds in less than a second...

His blood...

His bones...

His organs...

_Everywhere._

I didn't even know his name.

I was there for only a moment...

But I saw...

And I fled.

I ran down a random hallway and into the room I'm in now. I hid in a corner, hoping against hope that it would not find me here.

I don't know why it's _here_.

I don't know what it _wants_.

I don't even know what it _is_.

Except...

It's _not_ human!

I have to get out of here.

More screams...

I have to get up.

Cries...

Get. Up.

Crashes...

_Get! Up!_

I will myself to stand, my hand grips the gun tightly, although I doubt I'll be able to fire it to save my life. My legs shake underneath me as I try to make it to the door. The sounds of chaos strengthens when I open it. I can't tell where it comes from – it's all around me.

And then I sense a voice...

An inhuman voice inside my head.

Hellishly conveying its emotions directly into my mind...

And... I... Run...

The sounds of people dying mixed with the fury of the screaming voice combines into a brutal symphony of suffering, that threatens to massacre my very sanity. My legs move with frantic speed attempting to carry me out of this slaughterhouse. I barely recognize where I'm going, I don't know this mansion very well, I was just bringing those two girls...

Another loud crash from above... It's up there now!

I duck sideways through an open doorway just as the ceiling comes down in the middle of the hallway.

I look up...

And I'm staring into big brown scared eyes...

It's one of the girls... the youngest sister...

The one who was supposed to die.

I'm suddenly overcome by the need to protect her. I grab the little girl in my arms and jump inside a nearby closet.

Our only hope is to hide.

The darkness doesn't shield my mind and the voice fills my head – I can even make out what it's saying.

_**'Condemned by our lord and our savior.'**_

"I'm scared..." The red haired girl sniffles. "What's happening?"

_**'I see now that I'm the son of no man.'**_

"Shhh... we need to keep quiet..." I try to keep the voice out of my head.

_**'Knowing of the traps that you've set for me.'**_

"I don't like that man..." Her frightened words tell me that she can hear it too.

_**'Why should I even try to save myself?'**_

"He won't find us in here." I try to comfort her as she begins to cry softly.

"I have to find my sister..."

Goddammit...

How do you tell a nine-year old girl that her sister has been slaughtered by some inhuman beast?

Simple.

"I'm sure your sister is fine, I think I saw her get out of here."

You don't.

"But..." She begins to talk and I interrupt her.

"Listen... you stay put here, and don't make a single sound. I'll go see if I can find a way out for us and then I'll come back for you."

I put my hand gently on her head. "Okay?" I feel her nod.

Once again I walk out in the room and proceed to the shattered hallway. I still hear screams... audible as well as inaudible. But there's no nearby sounds of destruction so I run down the hallway. I come across remains of people torn to pieces... blood cakes the walls, and there are piles of dust lying scattered around.

I reach the entry hall.

It looks like it has been hit by a bomb.

Both of the marble statues have fallen, they now lie in pieces on the ground. A whole section of wall has come down too, adding to the rubble alongside much of the roof.

What the hell could have done this?

But whatever it is...

It's not here right now, so I should go back to get the girl.

"HELP!"

The scream alerts me to a young woman. She's lying face down and trapped beneath the remains of the shattered wall and much of the marble statues. There's enough of her upper body free to allow her to scream, but from her waist down she's hopelessly stuck underneath tons of stone.

"I can't get out!" She's probably one of the servant girls... not that social status matters in this situation. "Help me!"

"Hold on a sec..." I begin to remove some of the debris – damn... this girl has been at the worst possible places when the statue crashed down.

"Hurry! Please..." The second word is uttered almost apologetically, like she's afraid she'll make me leave her by being rude.

I remove a large board allowing myself to get a better look...

And then I stop.

"What's the matter? HURRY UP!" She obviously sensed me stalling.

There's a leg down there...

Her leg...

And it's not connected to the rest of her body.

But she doesn't bleed from the stump which is still attached to her upper body, which makes me realize something.

All the rocks weighing down on her midsection must have effectively cut off the blood supply to her legs... and if they've done that... then lifting them off again means...

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING?"

"Listen..." My voice is serious but reassuring. "I'll try to lift the rocks here as much as I can. I'll count to three and on the count of three I want you to try and work your way out... got that?"

"Yeah... ok." She sounds a bit doubtful of my plan but her voice holds a spark of hope.

I stand with my legs on either side of her shoulders my back is to the rocks. Her hands claws desperately at the floor to find something to grab, her head is turned towards the ground.

She can't see what I'm doing.

"One."

I kneel down slightly as if I'm gonna try to push the rocks off with the strength of my legs. I point the gun directly at her head.

"Two."

'BANG!'

Her body immediately goes limp. The ground underneath her head becomes smeared in a dark burgundy substance, there's a hole in the back of her head and I really don't want to see what her face looks like.

All I could give her was a quick death... allow her to die with hope in her heart...

I leave her and run back towards the room with the closet. I have to find the girl, I have to save her to redeem myself.

I run into the room and rip the closet door open...

She's not there.

DAMMIT!

I _told_ her to stay put.

I can't go look for her now...

I'll die...

DAMMIT!

But...

Only her sister was supposed to live anyway...

Just because I was the one who brought them here... under the pretense that the lord would use them as servants... it's not as if it's my fault that she's going to die now... I mean what choice did I have?

None.

DAMMIT!

I'm already running through the corridor... the opposite way... I'm already searching for her.

God damn guilt!

Why does it have to... THERE!

She's standing peeking through the slightly ajar door leading into the main bedroom... I could have told myself that... it was where her sister had been taken. Several body parts litter the floor around her... the sight is gruesome to say the least.

I quickly snatch her off her feet... the girl is completely paralyzed...

I turn around to run back down the corridor.

I _have _to make it out of here!

I have no idea what she has seen in there... but it has rendered her completely motionless in my arms. Her frantic pulse reveals that she's still alive though.

I bolt through the hallway and out into the ruined entry hall again.

"SISTER!"

The girl wakes up from her coma, and starts to hit me in order for me to let go. "STOP IT!" I grip her tighter and she winces from the uncomfortable embrace. "There's nothing we can do!"

She begins to cry as I run out into the night air and makes it for the first and best car... luckily I know how to hotwire it. I get in and place the red haired girl in the passenger seat before proceeding to start the car. She's sobbing hopelessly but doesn't make a move to get out.

"Sister..."

As the car starts I'm struck by the irony of all this.

The girl beside me is alive... because of me... and if it hadn't been for that... thing... in there... she would have been dead... also because of me...

Instead the rest of the mansion's household is now being mercilessly slaughtered.

And it actually means I'm free... I can escape from all of this...

I ought to be thankful for that.

Still I can't help but feel the echoes of that beast screaming inside my head. I never actually heard the words... instead... it's like they have somehow imprinted themselves in my brain...

Literally branded my mind with a symbol of pain and anger.

_**WHY**_

_**SHOULD**_

_**I BELIEVE, IF GOD'S NOT**_

_**HERE**_

_**TO**_

_**SAVE**_

_**ME?**_

* * *

And done...

So thanks for reading once again... I feel it was a bit on the experimental side, so do tell me what you think – I'd very much like to know.


	11. 2,1: First Contact

The Talkative Author:

So... a real full-sized chapter finished and the first chapter of the second part of the story. Again a horribly blatant CC ripoff... but what the hell, I simply couldn't resist making it this way... or as I've said before, I might just not be very creative...

On another note: It seems I've reached some sort of milestone fanfic-wise as my first story (The Curing Kiss) have managed to get past 1000 hits on the last chapter alone – it probably doesn't mean that 1000 different people have read it (would be cool though :D), but I suppose it _could _mean that the story has been read through no less than 1000 times. I actually don't know whether this is a lot but since it's more than twice of what any of my others have gotten it seems like it. So if you've read it - thanks, and if you've reviewed – thanks again.

And thanks a bunch if you've reviewed this one as well, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't still be writing this without feedback to keep me going ;)

Disclaimer: Yada...yada... blah...blah... something... something.

* * *

"Speech" 

_'Thoughts'_

EXCLAMATION!

**Supernatural**

Music: Just two little snippets from the CC soundtrack again, they can still be found at the site I wrote down a few chapters ago for those who haven't got them at home.

CC soundtrack gospel 2 – 6 Hakai no Ato / Mark of destruction

CC soundtrack gospel 1 – 4 Yokan-Taiji / Premonition-Confrontation

* * *

Torpor. 

The vampiric sleep.

Contrary to humans, vampires do not tire physically. In fact the vampire body is completely incapable of becoming fatigued or exhausted, hence they have no need for rest. But the divine light of day forces them into something akin to a coma, and this compelled sleep is virtually impossible for any vampire to resist. While sleeping a vampire is completely defenseless although some – in particular those that are powerful – are still vaguely aware of their surroundings and can will themselves to wake up should they feel threatened.

Just as the vampire body does not need sleep, neither does it leave this sleep spontaneously – that is actually something which requires a conscious effort, and the vampire can continue its slumber simply by refraining to wake up. Any vampire who has slept through a whole night discovers that staying asleep very quickly becomes easier than willing itself to wake up. Since their undead body requires nothing to sustain it during its stasis the hunger does not force them out of sleep either. Consequently a vampire can stay in torpor for months, years, even decades or centuries.

Some vampires sleep when they feel they've lived long enough, thus submitting themselves to a deathlike state from which they can eventually return should they ever reconsider. Noble vampires – such as princes – sleep when they tire of their rulership and will often let a suitable 'heir' govern their assets until a time when they feel the urge to lead once again. Some vampires even sleep because they are bored with the world and want to see if the future brings anything interesting.

And yet some sleep in order to escape the gloom of their unlife and descend into a never ending dream.

Whatever the reason for staying asleep one thing is for sure though.

A sleeping vampire shares more than a few traits with a hibernating animal.

And if you happen to wake up a creature who has slept for a very long time, you're typically advised to use caution...

* * *

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Book 2 :)

Chapter 1 – First Contact

* * *

"AAHHH!!!" A boyish voice cried out. "Cut that out!" 

"Why?" A girl's voice retorted half-mockingly. "Are you scared?"

"No..." The tone was clearly displaying his indignation. "It's just annoying... and you're being really childish!"

"You're just scared... and won't admit it."

"I'm not scared!"

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not!"

"Are too..."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"You're such a kid right now, you know that?"

"At least..." The grin was evident in her voice. "...I'm not scared..."

"Shut up."

A cold gust of wind swept through the air. It made an almost whistling sound as it passed through the crown of a nearby large tree.

"Did you hear that?" The boy asked.

"What?"

"Hmm... nothing I guess..." He raised his flashlight again letting the cone of light pierce through the darkness of the mostly silent park. "You're sure there are no guard dogs here at night?"

"Yeah... they just make people believe that so nobody tries to scale the fence when it's closed." The girl answered as her own flashlight lit up some of the less traveled parts of the park. "Let's go this way."

"That's off the trail."

"So..."

"We still have to get back before they find out that we're gone... and what if we get lost?"

"Weren't we supposed to be explorers?"

"Bah..." The boy retorted. "We're not really going where no one has gone before."

"Well... what are you scared of then?" She teased.

"I'm NOT scared!" The boy angrily tramped off the marked trail and in between the larger trees. The girl followed with a little chuckle.

Most of the park was in very good shape. The graves were well maintained and flowers were placed regularly to keep them colorful. The grass was neatly trimmed and the trees were cut in shapely fashions. It was all done in an effort to make the previously deteriorating park more inviting to visitors. After all the purpose of it had been to show that a graveyard didn't have to be gloomy, but could be a beautiful, tranquil place.

As the boy and girl walked further away from the marked trail they discovered that this part of the cemetery was quite different. It seemed to somehow have been forgotten during upkeep. The massive trees stood denser, and the ground was almost like an underbrush of a forest. Not many tombstones were situated here either and the few resting places of those who had been buried in this part had undergone severe decay. "Strange..." The boy said as his flashlight tried to penetrate the darkness in between the knotted trees. It only lit a few yards ahead due to the heavy mist rising from the moist ground. "It's like this part has been completely overlooked."

"Yeah..." The girl answered, her eyes trying to see through the haze which had become increasingly opaque.

"Hey... look!" The boy exclaimed. He picked up his pace towards the object of interest which was growing out of the fog.

"Looks like a small mausoleum." The girl followed. "It's completely overgrown."

The boy grinned enthusiastically. "Yeah..." His curiosity driving him towards the little stone construction. It was a simple building, no more than six foot in height and having a base of roughly ten by ten feet. It was mostly square but the corners had been carved to resemble rounded pillars, although they weren't very round anymore due to all the cracks in the masonry. Vines had crawled from the ground onto the building, encasing it in what appeared to be a natural prison. It seemed to have been untouched for years. "Perhaps we _will_ be going somewhere no one has gone before..." He grinned as he walked around the little mausoleum looking for the entrance. He found it quickly – a simple rusty metal gate which looked far more elaborate than it really was, due to the almost artistic fashion it had been covered in vines. The plants posed little hindrance to opening it though. The gate made a scratchy creaking sound as the boy began pulling it open. It definitely had not been oiled for many years. "...at least for some time... Right?"

Apart from another gust of wind blowing through the crowns of the trees, the boy received no answer.

"Eh..." He turned around to see if the girl was still behind him. The flashlight shone a few yards into the mist before the water vapors in the air obscured everything.

"Sis...?" The cone of light traveled back and forth as he tried to look for the familiar face. "Sis?" He began to walk cautiously back the way he had come, every step he took causing a squishy sound to rise from the moist ground. "Sis?" His gaze scoured the darkness between the trees.

"BOO!"

"AAHHH!"

"Gotcha!"

"Cut it out!" He whirled around to see the widely grinning face of his blonde, pigtailed sister. "It's not funny!"

"Still won't admit that you're scared?"

"Hmph..." Having no immediate response he ignored the question and headed back towards the mausoleum with a sour expression painted across his face.

"So..." The girl said trying to strike up a conversation with her offended brother. "...how long do you think it's been since somebody's been here?"

"Dunno." He answered already beginning to forget the prank she'd pulled on him. "Probably years." Opening the gate further, he stepped into the mausoleum. It consisted of a single unadorned stone room which hardly could be said to be interesting.

"It seems smaller than from the outside." The girl noted having followed him inside.

"It is. Look at the room, it's rectangular." He let the light travel along the edge of the room indicating that it was indeed wider than it was deep.

"So?"

"The mausoleum is square on the outside so this room should be bigger." The cone of light came to rest on the end wall. "I think there's something behind that wall."

"Like what?"

"Dunno... maybe they buried the people it was built for in there."

"You mean there's dead people behind that wall? That's creepy."

He didn't seem to hear her but went to investigate the wall as if he could find some clue as to what was behind it.

The girl went towards it too letting her hand brush against the cold stone. "Do you think they were buried alive?"

The boy let out a little laugh. "Hah... that's ridiculous... what makes you think that?"

"Well..." She replied in an indignant tone. "They could have been... it's that kind of place."

"You've been reading too much."

"Still... there's something about thiiiIIIIEEEEE..."

The boy whirled around. "What?" His sister was on the ground nursing her hip which she must have landed on.

"Auw..." She uttered in a half-broken voice. "I dunno what happened I just leaned on the wall and..."

He was already examining the part of the wall which had sprung open. The flashlight shone into the opening and it revealed a steep stairway going down into the ground. "Wow..." His eyes lit up. "... a secret passage."

(CC Soundtrack Gospel 2 – 6 Hakai no Ato / Mark of Destruction)

_**'Some . . . '**_

The girl looked down the dark tunnel as well. "Where do you think it leads?"

"I don't know... the tomb maybe... or tombs..." He grinned. "Maybe there's a treasure down there..."

"Treasure?" The blonde inquired as she stood up, picking up her own flashlight. "Why would there be treasure down there?"

"You know... people were often buried with lots of riches, they could take into the next world with them." He was getting more and more enthusiastic by the second.

"Yeah... like a thousand years ago maybe..."

"Hey... _you_ thought that someone was buried alive in here..." One foot was cautiously placed on the first step, testing that it was safe. Then the other foot tested the step below the first one, as he began to slowly make his way down the stairs.

_**' . . . Body . . . '**_

"So... people can still be insane and do something like that..." She began walking down the stairs as well, closely following her brother. "...but I don't think anyone would still be buried with a treasure."

"We won't know unless we go down to find out..." His pace picked up a bit, driven forward by curiosity and childish greed. "...I think we're gonna be rich-hey watch it."

"Sorry... I can't see a thing here..." She directed the light towards her feet enabling her to see the steps she walked upon. "You know..." The girl continued in a hushed and a bit teasing voice. "...if someone _were_ buried alive, they would probably haunt their tomb..."

"Oh quit it, you're just being stupid." Another step was taken a bit quicker than the previous, the end of the stairs was becoming visible in the artificial light now, there were three archways at the bottom, one going left, one right, and one leading straight ahead.

_**' . . . Is . . . '**_

"But... a lot of people have seen ghosts you know..." The air was becoming mustier as the two siblings made their way towards the archways at the end of the stairs."...and there are pictures and everything."

"They're probably just fake." He tried not to sound like it, but couldn't conceal that the girl was making him a bit uneasy. The light now shot into the chamber past the center archway.

"But what if they are real..." She continued teasing. "...and if somebody has been buried alive down there..." The far end wall of the underground chamber was illuminated as a cone of light struck it.

"S-stop it! This isn't a Scooby Doo episode... there're no ghosts down here!" The boy determinedly walked through the middle archway, and into the room.

_**' . . . HERE!'**_

"WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" The girl screamed. "We're really sorry to disturb you mister ghost! Please don't hurt us!"

"S-sis..." The boy said in a strained voice. He was gasping for air.

"We promise to leave and never come back!" She cried desperately.

"Sis..." He struggled to speak, sounding as if his life was being squeezed out of him.

"Please... just don't eat us!"

"I... won't..." A cautious voice replied, coarse from lack of use but still laced with an enticing softness, like a drape of dark velvet blocking out the light.

It came from a boy, sitting in a far corner of the room, harshly illuminated by one of the flashlights. His legs were dragged up toward his chest, his arms resting on his knees, his chin on top of his hands. His skin was pale... almost lifeless... He was dressed in tight jeans and some form of extra long dark red suit jacket... the clothes appeared worn. His face was hidden in the shadow beneath long purple hair which hang unceremoniously down over his shoulders, visible beneath the bangs were a pair of red eyes which almost could be said to glow with an inner light.

"SIS..." The blond boy managed. "...you're choking me!"

"Oh..." She replied a bit embarrassed. She let go of the boy who coughed once before inhaling a few large breaths of air, trying to obtain the oxygen he had been denied while being forcefully hugged by his sister.

"Eh... sorry..." The blonde girl addressed the purple-haired boy meekly. "I kinda... thought you were a ghost... and you were going to eat our souls because we disturbed you. You're not a ghost are you?"

The boy didn't get up. He simply regarded the two strangers with an incredulous expression for a few seconds before responding. "I'm not a ghost."

He averted his gaze again.

"And I'm not going to eat you."

"G-geez sis!" The blond said having regained his breath. "Are you crazy?"

"Well how was I supposed to know that he wasn't a ghost?" The girl retorted apparently oblivious to the fact that the person she was referring to was very much within earshot. "I mean he's sitting in a TOMB!"

The blond boy braced himself and turned towards the stranger in the corner. "I-I'm really sorry." Clearly disregarding the agitated girl who didn't hesitate in making her displeasure known.

"HEY!"

He kept addressing the purple haired. "I think there's something seriously wrong with her head."

"STOP IGNORING ME!!!"

"Well you clearly ignored him! I guess I'm just showing you what it feels like!"

"It's only fair! He scared us on purpose!"

"Oh so now you're embarrassed 'cause you're scared?"

"NO! I'm not scared! I GOT scared by him!" Her flashlight as well as her index finger rather rudely indicated who she was talking about. "There's a HUGE difference!"

"That makes no sense!"

"Yes it does!"

"No it _doesn't_, and you _know_ it!"

_**'Noisy . . .' **_

Crimson eyes followed the two blondes as their argument unfolded. He had sensed them approaching and it had pulled him back into the world of sight... of sound...

"The only one who scared ME was you when you nearly choked me to death!"

_**'So . . . noisy . . .'**_

"HEY! I was protecting you!"

_**'Silence . . . them . . .'**_

"HAH! You were hanging on to me like I was some stuffed toy!"

_**'Silence them.'**_

"NO I wasn't!"

_**'Silence them!'**_

Smell.

A breath of wind from outside put the air inside the musty chamber in motion, carrying with it the scent of grass, trees, animals and something else...

_**'SILENCE TH . . .'**_

something calming...

_No'_

something coming from...

"Why..." The purple haired boy spoke softly, and even though he was far from matching the volume of the two siblings voices, their argument ended as quickly as it had begun. "...are you... here?"

"Hmph..." The girl crossed her arms, clearly her pride was still hurt. "We could ask you the same thing."

The blond boy sighed. "We were just trying to be explorers... we found it by accident..." His eyes followed the flashlight cone as it scoured over the walls of the chamber. "This place is really cool though!"

It made no sense. Nobody should want to come near here... much less come down into the underground chamber... he had made sure of that... continually radiating a subconscious need for people to get away from this area... why?

Why were these two children here then?

The blue-eyed girl made a skeptical expression. "You know you're not supposed to be here either... the park's closed..."

"I..." The strange boy looked thoughtful. "...have a reason..."

"Well, if you won't tell anybody that we're here then we won't tell anybody that you're here, and nobody gets in trouble... deal?"

"I guess..." The purple haired said, eyes turning towards the ground again.

"Hey..." The blonde girl put on a more cheery tone. "...stop being so glum, will ya?" She went closer with the flashlight still fixated upon him. Her eyes attempted to find his, but the red orbs eluded her gaze. Her face suddenly lit up as if an invisible light bulb had magically appeared above her head, and she dug her hand into the pocket of her jacket allowing it to reemerge holding several pieces of candies in colorful wrappings that indicated different flavors. "Want one?"

The purple haired boy looked up at the sugary rocks offered to him, a surprised expression briefly flashing across his face. "I'm not... hungry..."

"Hey!" The blond boy exclaimed from another part of the chamber. "I didn't know you had those... I want one." He was tossed one by the girl who unwrapped one for herself as well. "Oh really smart..." The boy said in annoyed tone. "...how am I supposed to find it now?" He began searching for the wayward piece of candy.

"What's your name?" The girl asked as she sat down not too far from the strange boy. "Wow! Cool eyes... is it contacts?" The volume of her voice increasing along with her curiosity. Her previous question momentarily forgotten.

_'Contacts...?' _He thought about this a bit before deciding on an answer. "No..."

"Really?" She sounded genuinely surprised. "That's awesome."

"You shouldn't be here... this place is a tomb."

"I can see that... but what are _you_ doing down here then? I mean isn't it boring to sit here all alone in the dark?"

He could feel that urge inside him again... he needed to stop the questioning... he didn't want... questions... "Are you writing a book?" He took a deep breath... there was that calming scent again...

"Eh... no..." The blonde responded a bit dumbfounded. "Wait... was that some sort of stab at me?"

Blood red eyes turned towards the ground, their owner realizing that the girl perhaps didn't understand the meaning of his words. _'How . . . long . . .'_

"Look... there's a small niche here..." Her brother had found something he obviously found interesting. "There's some sort of jar..."

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH IT!!!" The purple haired boy shot up in less than the blink of an eye. His violent reaction earning a gasp from the siblings, the girl nearly swallowed her fruit drop, the boy was literally stunned.

"HEY!!!" She got to her feet, gathered her courage, and stomped angrily towards the strange aggressive boy with the flashlight pointing directly at him. "THAT'S NOT NICE!"

Crimson eyes turned to look at deep blue. Somehow her icy stare bored deep into the back of his mind, forcefully quenching his anger. How old was this girl... thirteen? How the hell could she stare him down like this? He could so easily...

"Apologize now!" She demanded.

"Why?" He practically snarled.

"WHY? Because you don't yell at people like that! Josh didn't do anything, and he didn't even know that you didn't want him to touch your precious jar!" She was trembling slightly with agitation and a tinge of fear, but her gaze was fixed and adamant. Soon the glaring contest was lost by the red eyed boy.

"SO?" She asked. "Are you gonna?"

He didn't answer – simply stared at the wall while seemingly holding his breath. His teeth and hands were forcefully clenched, a fiery glow burned in his eyes, his expression pained with exertion.

"Fine!" The blonde girl said, turning around on her heel. "If it's that hard for you. Come on Josh. Let's go back. Apparently this _freak_ doesn't want us here!" She grabbed her brother's hand and stomped out of the underground chamber almost dragging the still shaken blond boy after her.

As the light disappeared and the footsteps became fainter, the purple haired dropped down to his knees. Rage still burning inside him like a firestorm...

So close... he had come so close to... if it hadn't been for that calming scent... those piercing blue eyes...

Why?

His hands gripped his temples as he tried to calm himself...

Why did it have to be so strong?

Arms dropped powerlessly towards the ground.

Why was he even still alive?

Glowing embers turned to look at the small niche carved into the stone wall by his own claws, and the urn which still stood there... untouched. He could see it clearly even though it was pitch-black... the darkness was no hindrance to his eyes... to him... it was that which followed him around everywhere... the blackness of the tomb... the blackness that was his very existence.

What would _she_ think if she could see him now... see what he had become? Would she just would put him down like the beast that he was...?

Would she ever forgive him for what he had done to her?

He closed his eyes.

A vision of pale beauty began to form behind them, with flowing blond hair and sky-colored eyes. On her lips... a smile... one of remorse... the kind you put on when you are trying to apologize. It was a sad image, an image of longing, of things lost...

but also...

of solace.

It was an image which could calm him, douse those parts of him he was unable to control... those parts which made him less than human.

But slowly.

Unwillingly.

For reasons unknown to him.

That image began to change.

The hair darkening... the eyes too...

The features growing younger...

The expression turning from soft to stern...

Until pale blond had turned to golden honey...

Until the color of the sky had deepened to the hue of the ocean...

Until the wispy face of a British blonde had turned into that of a spirited youngster's...

Slowly the image of his sire morphed into that of a young pig-tailed girl staring angrily at him, reprimanding him and lecturing him about what he could and couldn't do.

Forcing him into saying that he was...

"Sorry..."

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_'Stupid . . .'_

That was what this was.

The heavy droplets pounding mercilessly down on her from above had long ago made her hair cling to her clammy skin. The water was freezing, marking the onset of fall. She couldn't see very far in this darkness, and her flashlight wasn't much help in the thick rain. The wind had also picked up – an icy chill coming from the sea, which was sending all the fallen leaves through the air... and apparently every little piece of flying debris had _her_ as its main target.

With an annoyed huff she removed a large muddy leaf which had decided to attach itself to her cheek.

The rain had almost turned the ground into a marsh, and every step she took seemed to make her shoes sink deeper into the sticky soil. Mud stained the edge of her skirt and was splattered all over the long socks she wore to keep the cold out – a job they weren't doing very well anymore.

This really was a horrible night to be anywhere outside... and in no way was she dressed for the weather.

_'Stupid . . .'_

She could have been inside.

She could have been lying in her bed.

She could have been warm and comfortable.

_'Stupid!'_

So why the HELL was she standing out here in the rain, soaked, freezing and caked in mud, looking at the mausoleum her and Josh had found a few days earlier?

_'STUPID!'_

The gate creaked as she opened it to allow herself inside. At least it was dry in here, although not the least bit warmer.

The girl hugged herself in an effort to warm her body, a scowl forming on her face as she thought about the events which had led her out here tonight.

She'd had a run-in with sister Ethel – one of the caretakers at the orphanage. Apparently Shane had come crying to the nun about a toy she supposedly had broken – which she hadn't! Alright, so she _had_ accidentally stepped on his stupid gameboy, but it was _still_ his own fault for leaving it on the ground, and the thing worked just _fine_ afterwards. The little brat probably broke the thing himself because he figured that he would get his hands on a newer and better one if he could convince the nun that _she'd_ broken it. Blaming her for the broken toy wasn't very hard – with the 'reputation' she'd managed to build up. While defending herself against the accusations she might have used a couple of words in front of the nun she wasn't supposed to – hence the reason for her being grounded.

She knew how to sneak out of her room of course... her and Josh had snuck out plenty of times, so being grounded didn't mean she couldn't go out. They never checked on them after 10 o'clock either so she could pretty much stay out all night if that was what she wanted...

The blonde looked out the entrance at the cold, windy, rainy... dammit!

If she hadn't been grounded she wouldn't have become so mad, and she probably wouldn't have run out, and then she wouldn't have become caught out here in the rain...

_'STUPID!'_

She would definitely be back in the warm comfort of her room... if she hadn't been grounded.

Irony sucks.

But what was really weird about the whole thing was that she'd made her way here.

Blue eyes glanced around the inside of the mausoleum. The wall was still pushed aside. She went towards it, shining the flashlight into the little passage behind the wall, her gaze following the light cone as it lit up the secret stairway.

_'What am I DOING here...?'_

It made no sense... without Josh she had little reason to be here... it was after all mostly him who enjoyed pretending to be an explorer... and the tomb was most likely empty since that strange boy probably wouldn't be down there anymore... he must have been there for a while and then left again... after all he had said he had a reason for being down there...

Not that he in any way was the reason why she was here now.

He had been rude, bad-tempered and not the least bit fun to meet...

Still...

She was now making her way down the very same stairs, and she didn't even know why.

She walked through the center archway, entering the room cautiously. It was dry and cold, and the girl shivered slightly as the light struck the corner where the boy had been sitting the other night.

Nothing.

"Hello..."

No answer.

Of course not... why would there be anybody down here?

The blonde began to walk along the left side of the chamber, the flashlight illuminating the wall next to her. She hadn't paid much attention to the room itself last time she was here, having been more occupied with trying to communicate with its inhabitant. It was a simple room – reminding her of an underground shelter – made of some form of large stone blocks.

(CC Soundtrack Gospel 1 – 4 Yokan-Taiji / Premonition-Confrontation)

The walls were decorated with numerous carvings...

Some of them crude.

Some of them elaborate.

And almost all of them grizzly.

The flashlight found a particular carving which was very detailed...

It showed a man lying on the ground. There was a large wound in his chest. Blood exuded from it running down the side of his torso and onto the ground. Another man was standing looking down on him. His hands were gripping his hair tightly and his expression seemed lost... confused. A knife was laying at his feet as if it had been dropped. The two men looked alike. In the background were two large bonfires. The smoke from one of them rose straight into the air as if there was no wind, and the smoke from the other seemed to be blown off to the side.

The blonde frowned a bit at the unpleasant scene... something about it seemed familiar.

She let the flashlight travel to the right... there was another carving similar to the first... almost like they were pictures in a comic book.

It was the same man as in the first... the one who held the knife. He was on his hands and knees as a beam of light from the sky shone down upon him. Though he didn't seem to be praying – something a first impression might indicate. It seemed like he was being driven towards the ground by the light... like he was being hurt.

She continued further right... another carving.

It was the same man. He was looking out over a large lake. Standing next to him, also looking over the lake, was a beautiful woman with incredibly long flowing hair. They were holding hands, and seemed happy. Although there was something strange about their eyes... like they weren't human.

To the right again was a fourth carving...

The girl gasped.

The woman was now lying on the ground. Her eyes wide open and staring directly into the eyes of the young spectator. Her face was frozen in a frightened scream and tears ran down her chins. Even though it was only a carving the details were incredible and the woman's expression bored deeply into the blonde's mind. Her body was covered in cuts and wounds, blood poured freely onto the ground and ran into the lake she lay next to. In the background was the same man as before. He was walking away. His face hidden in his hands. Hands that were smeared in a dark substance.

She directed the flashlight elsewhere... that last image made her _really_ uncomfortable.

Did that boy _like_ sitting down here... did he _like_ pictures such as these?

The flashlight found the little niche...

He had been so protective of that thing...

But...

He wasn't here right now...

She walked towards the intricate container carved out of stone. It was actually really beautiful.

It couldn't hurt...

Since he wasn't here...

Overwhelmed by curiosity her hand slowly began reaching for the lid, her eyes wide and expectant, and she bit her lower lip out of reflex.

She lifted the lid revealing...

Dust.

Plain, old, boring dust.

The blonde let out a little grunt of disappointment... why would anyone get so worked up over that?

Still... who knows how that boy would react if he knew...

She put the lid back on... carefully placing it so nobody would be able to notice that she had looked inside it.

She ought to get out of here and get back as well... she was getting really cold.

Turning around the girl was about to leave and was met with...

Staring eyes the color of blood and fire.

"WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

The girl almost took a leap backwards, her heart thundered deafeningly, her feet lost their footing, her hand dropped the flashlight and her arms made wild windmill movements in a futile attempt to halt her fall as she toppled over backwards, plummeting towards the ground.

But she never hit the floor.

Instead of the hard feeling of falling onto stone there was the softness of an arm draped around her back, supporting her, another arm around her waist, and a body close to hers...

Frightened azure eyes looked up in bewilderment, and found crimson orbs staring back at her...

He had... caught her?

How had he done that... so quickly?

Her surprised expression was replaced by a frown. She wrested herself out of his embrace and shot to her feet again, towering over the still kneeling boy, while trembling slightly from fear and embarrassment. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU JERK?!?" Turning those emotions into anger was something she knew how to do well.

"Uhh..." The boy replied.

"YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK!!!" She continued, still shaking, although it was more from the cold now. "YOU CAN'T JUST SCARE PEOPLE LIKE THAT!!!"

"I..." He seemed confused. "...didn't mean to..."

"Hmph..." She picked up her flashlight again. "Well you did... you could at least have said something instead of sneaking up on me." How long had he been here... simply watching her? She actually didn't want the answer for that question... it was a bit creepy.

He went and sat down in the same corner he had been sitting in the last time she was here. "Where's your brother?" He asked.

As the purple haired boy sat down she was suddenly overcome by a very strange feeling that came from him – he seemed so... sad... somehow. Her expression began to soften and despite her better judgment she took an uneasy step towards him. "He's not feeling well, so he's in bed."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"You're kidding, right?" Her face turned skeptical. "I mean... you... saying you're sorry?"

"But..." He replied with a hint of surprise. "I am..."

"Well... thanks... for caring." She glanced around the little room, trying to come up with something to say. "So... you're here again after closing time... don't you ever come here during the day?"

"I'm usually not worth much during the day..." He replied with a little shrug.

"You're a nighttime person..." She put on a little smile... ok, admittedly this boy _was_ strange, but at the same time he radiated an aura of sincerity. She closed the remaining distance and dropped down on the floor next to him, pulling her legs towards her chest. "...so am I."

"What's wrong then..." The purple haired said after a little while. "...with your brother I mean."

"He gets sick easily..." Her slender hands began rubbing her left sock... it was still wet from the rain making her leg shiver. "He's always had a weak immunity system. I think it's because he was born too early."

"You seemed pretty close."

"You only heard us arguing." Her right hand switched its attention to the right sock.

"You can usually tell... from the way people argue." Red eyes turned to look at the ministrations the girl was doing to warm herself... and focused.

"Hmm... I guess you're right, we are pretty close... I think we've been always..." The girl slowed down her sock-rubbing, a subtle warmth was beginning to spread through her legs. "So what's your story?"

"My story?" He asked with a curious expression.

"Yeah like... _why_... are you sitting down _here_? It isn't exactly the happiest place in the world you know."

A sardonic sneer brushed across his face shortly._ 'Oh . . . I'm just a blood-sucking vampire who's imprisoned myself . . . I don't even know for how long . . . nice to meet you.' _The thought rang through his mind with a sneer. "I guess..." His face turned somber again. "I'm paying my respects..."

"To someone who died?" She hadn't noticed the brief change in his expression. "Who?"

"She was..." His eyes shifted towards the niche. "The only family I had."

"Don't have a family..." Azure eyes followed the direction of his gaze, and suddenly things began making a lot more sense. The jar was of course an urn and the dust inside must be the ashes of somebody who'd been cremated. She suddenly felt guilty for having peeked inside of the container. "...you know... me and Josh are like that too... we've only got each other."

"What about your parents?" His eyes shifted back towards the girl.

"Mom died when she gave birth to Josh, and Dad..." Her body began to relax a bit more, the warmth in her legs was beginning to spread to the rest of her body and she didn't even feel cold anymore. "...I don't know... I think he just couldn't take it all."

"You're orphans?"

"Yeah... we live over at Christopher's Children's... It really isn't so bad... we get our own room, and allowances, and sometimes it's almost like living with a big family..." She rested her head on her knees, her clothes were already dry now. "...so what about you, where do you live?"

"I don't really live..." He fell silent for a short while, as if he was pondering his own words. "...anywhere."

"No way!" Her eyes widened. "You're a street kid?"

"I suppose..."

"But... you don't have to be. I mean isn't living on the streets dangerous? And there are lots of places you could go. I'm sure loads of families would be willing to take you in for adoption..." She smiled. "...you might want to do something about your hair first."

"My hair?" He looked clearly puzzled.

"Yeah, I don't think everyone wants a boy who's dyed his hair purple... I mean... I think it's really cool and all but lots of people probably won't."

He shook his head slightly at that comment. The concept of him being adopted by a human family was utterly ludicrous. The idea of his hair color being the biggest hindrance towards that even more so.

"You know what?" The girl exclaimed. She seemed very excited about this new idea. "You could come back to the orphanage with me... I'm sure they would take you in if you haven't got a family..."

"It..." He shook his head. "...wouldn't work."

"But... why not?" The girl replied, apparently a bit hurt that her offer was turned down so quickly.

He looked at the girl – she was clearly disappointed. "I just _know_ that it wouldn't." There was an evident sadness in his voice, a part of him actually began envisioning how such an arrangement would turn out. Somehow this girl was making him want to come with her.

The mention of the orphanage made her realize that it was getting late, and her wristwatch showed that it was indeed a quarter past midnight. "I should go back..." It wasn't that she really wanted to anymore, she had become comfortably warm now and she felt oddly at ease around this boy. She'd be going through hell the next morning if she didn't get some sleep soon though.

"Alright..." His eyes followed the outline of the child as she picked up the flashlight she needed to see, got to her feet and made for stairs on the other side of the archway.

She turned around just before exiting the chamber. "You're sure you don't wanna come? It really isn't as bad as..."

"I'm sure..." He interrupted quickly. "But... thanks... for asking."

"Ok. By the way, my name is Rose."

"Chrono."

She put on a speculative face. "Really? That's... a strange name."

"Yeah... well..." His lips formed into a little smirk. "Goes with the eyes you know."

"Right." She smiled a bit and her eyes looked towards the ground. "Uhm... are you gonna be here... if I come back some other time?"

"Yeah..." The smile was cautiously returned. "...I will."

"Good. 'Cause you still owe Josh an apology."

Then the blonde turned around on her heel and began walking up the stairs again. As she came outside she discovered that the rain had also lessened a bit and despite still being grounded and annoyed at Shane and sister Ethel the girl was now making her way back to the orphanage half-walking half-skipping. She was definitely in a much better mood than when she had come out there tonight, and most certainly in a better mood than last time she'd left the murky tomb.

* * *

And so ends the first chappy of 'book two'. I know there's not much new and ground breaking thinking here, but I really liked the part where Chrno was found in a tomb in the original story, and I simply couldn't bring myself to omit or change that. So I finally managed to introduce Josh(ua) and Rose(tte), and I hope you liked the way I went about it, and that it was obvious how much different a person Chrono is compared to how he used to be. As always reviews are greatly appreciated, and of course the best motivation to keep doing this, so if you want another installment (perhaps with a little shorter update time), then go ahead and click the lil' button. 


	12. 2,2: Scent of Humanity

Author's greetings:

Hola and willkommen back to another installment (and a pretty long one) of (drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrumROLL) 'Tomorrow is another Night' (thank you, thank you).

Now this chapter isn't exactly what you'd call a very plot-advancing chapter, but more of a character-development one. You may or may not like that, but I know I do and I feel it's essential if I want the story well-told. Besides I must say that I felt fairly inspired when writing a lot of this, although it was done in several individual steps (don't ask how many) and it really took quite some time to get through. I do feel pretty good about the end result though so I really hope you'll enjoy it.

And as always thanks an octillion (yes that's an actual number) for the great reviews that I've received.

* * *

Music: What only ONE track and not even anything new... ah well I'll figure out some more for next time, can't postpone this chapter any longer. 

CC soundtrack gospel 1 – 22 Chrno no Yasashisa / Chrno's Kindness

Oh... and a stray pac-man ate the disclaimer.

* * *

An area under control of the Camarilla is actually not ruled entirely by the Camarilla. 

In fact every clan is largely autonomous and has a leader, one who is the supreme ruler of that clan in the region. These leaders are called primogens, they answer directly to the prince, and are held responsible for the overall actions of their clan.

This is done to respect the differences between the clans, appeasing them by allowing them to deal with their own members as they see fit, letting them create their own laws for what is right and what is wrong.

Thus actually most laws are set by the individual clan, although some offenses are regulated by the Camarilla and these are non-negotiable.

Some offenses are minor, and will result in the Kindred being stripped of ranks and titles within the community – a stand-alone masquerade violation falls into this category.

Some are major and will lead to the Kindred's execution at a trial, which is often performed by beheading – frequent masquerade violations or the siring of a childe without permission can warrant this punishment.

Only one offense warrants the greatest punishment – the Blood Hunt – and that is the killing of another Kindred without the explicit permission of the Camarilla.

The target of a Blood Hunt is no longer considered Kindred and it is legally allowed for anybody to kill the offender in any manner – often a hunt ends with the target being chained and left for the sunrise or by being diablerized by its own sire. The target is given a warning to receive a 'head start' before the hunt sets in, and most use this time to flee as far away from the city in which the blood hunt was issued. This type of punishment serves two purposes. First of all it gives every Kindred that participates a time of enjoyment, since the urge to hunt lies deep within every one of them, and there is no greater thrill than the hunt of an equal. Secondly it ensures that the victim ends its existence in fear, for if there is any phobia which can be said to be shared by all predators, it is that of becoming a prey.

* * *

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Book 2

Chapter 2 – Scent of Humanity

* * *

Eyes closed. 

Muscles tensed.

Fingers tightened, securing their grasp on the cold handle – a dark polished piece of metal that curved around his knuckles in the form of a Chinese dragon.

'SWISH!!!'

The sound resonated harshly through the pitch-blackness – blade slicing the air with a velocity that nearly sent a shock wave ripping through the gaseous medium.

It dissipated almost instantly, leaving in its wake nothing but silence.

Deathly silence.

No footsteps, no rustling of clothes, not even the slightest intake of breath – as if some higher power had pressed the universal mute button.

Fingers tightened once again, the grip was just wide enough to accommodate both of his hands, although he much preferred to wield it with just one. His right foot took a little step to the side, his hips twisted sending power into his upper body which spun around itself with blinding speed and brought the weapon around in a horizontal arc that would cleave concrete.

'SWISH!!!'

The momentum carried his arm too far. He had to take another step and rotate his upper body further than intended in order to stop the wild swing.

He preferred to wield it with one hand, that was true.

His arms and shoulders just lacked the necessary strength in his smaller form.

Chrono raised the weapon slowly, holding it steady with both of his hands. The chill of the blade touching his forehead sent a calming sensation through his body.

It was such an odd thing; that he was able to find this tiny measure of mental peace by swinging something so deadly around. But it was definitely better than sitting down and stare into the dark which, apart from sleeping, just about summed up the extent of recreational possibilities these gloomy underground chambers had to offer.

Glowing ruby eyes scanned the walls, casually appraising the images which surrounded him. They weren't a part of the original architecture, all of them hand-made (literally) by him. Many of them he couldn't even remember having done, and some of them were so gory and crudely carved – evidence of his state of mind at their creation – that they made him frown involuntarily.

_**'Needs . . . Blood . . .'**_

The cold metal was once again brought to his forehead in an attempt to silence the inner voice that threatened to consume his mind and take control of his actions.

Unfortunately... the voice was right.

He was awake now, and he could not exist without sustaining himself.

Sooner or later the need would become so strong that he was forced to feed, and when that happened he would not be able to resist – he knew that much about himself. Of course, finding 'food' meant he would have to leave the tomb, and common sense dictated that it was smarter to do so with a clear head than in a hunger induced feeding frenzy.

But so far he had remained in hiding – not really in a hurry to become the target of a blood hunt again, which, he presumed, would happen fairly quickly if his whereabouts were known. Still... the whole thing might well have cooled down by now...

Yeah right.

Even if it had been years ago... decades maybe, there were probably more than plenty who'd like to see him turned into a crispy sunshine barbecue. If nothing else, then to set an example. The Camarilla especially liked those things... big, glittering, impossible-to-ignore examples. The more, the merrier – or the easier to get a statement across at least. Like a bleedin' textbook trying to illustrate foreign concepts such as 'Thou shalt not screw up everything'... or something along those lines.

Examples were the bread and butter of their publicity machine, the means by which they could flex their judicial muscles by showing the fatal consequences of committing a crime. Which was why they needed the occasional oddball to violate the rules, because if _everybody_ obeyed them, then eventually _nobody_ would be scared of breaking them – can't have that in a society building on fear of the law.

Now there was a great piece of political logic.

So considering how much the Camarilla would enjoy getting their hands on him and the detrimental effect that would have on his longevity, keeping himself hauled up seemed the smart thing to do. But honestly... if that was the only reason, then he wouldn't be down here.

No, being hunted wasn't the real issue, he could deal with that – as he had done before.

What had kept him inside wasn't fear of how the world would react to him.

It was a very real concern... for how _he _was going to react to it.

When his senses once again would become mercilessly bombarded by the pulse of life pounding through the night like a deafening heartbeat...

_**'needs . . .'**_

When his teeth once again would penetrate soft, inviting flesh to indulge in the luscious elixir of vitae flowing beneath...

_**'needs . . .'**_

When it once again would lure him in with the promise of sweet crimson satisfaction – heavenly warmth for his cold, dead body...

_**'Needs . . .'**_

When it once again would leave him unfulfilled and wanting more.

_**'Needs . . .'**_

Then the darkness would take over, force him to try and sate the endless hunger, drive him to commit acts that _she _hated.

_**'NEEDS . . .'**_

He could NOT betray her memory like that.

'SWISH!!!'

Not again.

Of course... he _could_ go back to sleep. That would effectively put a stop to his need for blood.

But...

That girl...

She had said they would come back.

And for reasons which seemed to elude him, that alone had been enough for him to wake himself up every single night since then, and wait for them to appear in the archway. Why he was allowing this to happen was beyond him, every rational sense he had ever possessed screamed 'disaster' at the idea of those two kids coming back, because if he didn't dare go outside then his only supply of blood would be from somebody who came down here...

'SWISH!!!'

He really didn't want to hurt them.

But even as he knew they risked ending up dead by his hand if they returned, he still wanted them to come back; and the need to see them again was so intuitive that he was hard-pressed to find any sort of logical reason. Perhaps he had enjoyed the lively interaction between them so much that he wanted to feed from it somehow. Perhaps he missed having somebody – even if the person in question was only a child – tell him what to do, provide him with some form of guidance. Perhaps he just wanted somebody to talk to...

Or...

Perhaps it was quite simply the smell.

'SWISH!!!'

That smell.

It wasn't really clear to him whether it came from her hair, her skin or perhaps the blood in her veins. That in itself was very odd because he had never before had any difficulty in distinguishing where anything – be it visual, audible or olfactory – originated from, and just the challenge of discovering what caused her to give off that scent intrigued both his mind and his senses.

Even more than that, it was the effect it had on him, that really made him long for it.

It made no sense that those two kids had made it out of the tomb alive, it made no sense that he hadn't torn them limb from limb – especially considering how close the boy had come to dishonoring the remains of his sire. But like an ethereal deluge, that smell had swept through him, quenching the anger which normally would have flared up and laid waste to everything in his vicinity.

When she came back the second night he had stayed out of her flashlight's search area. Curious as to what she was doing here, and not wanting to scare her off again, he had successfully kept himself hidden in the dark. When she had walked around studying his carvings, he had simply watched her; when she decided to walk towards the thing that was most sacred to him in this world, he had kept watching her; and when she had defiled it by taking off the lid and looking inside, he had not stopped her despite the pain and fury which had welled up inside him.

Pain from the haunting memories of the one he had murdered in the most foul of ways.

Fury from the audacity this human girl displayed by so blatantly disregarding that very pain.

She should have been dead.

But when the urge to drive his hand straight through her delicate torso had threatened to incinerate his consciousness in a mad frenzy, he had inhaled deeply, focusing solely on her scent.

And her scent had quite literally saved her life.

Because he was aware that killing her would kill the scent, and doing that would have been truly unforgivable.

A scoffing smile played across the boyish features.

Was that really it?

A smell?

Something as lowly and bestially instinctual as his addiction to a smell... was that really the only thing which so far had kept him from succumbing to the sordid desires of his inner self and bathe in the blood of those two children? Was that really the reason he had dragged himself out of sleep several nights in a row now?

He went to the corner of the room and put the weapon down, resting it upright against the wall.

He just couldn't...

Couldn't deny it...

That her scent affected him in a way he was craving more and more the longer he was without it. That it felt as if parts of him were woken up by it, parts he had completely forgotten that he had once possessed. That breathing when she was nearby almost took him back to a time where his body still drew its own breath.

He leaned with his back against the wall, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

As if his own imagination had made it magically appear out of nowhere, the sensation coursed through him. The blood in his veins began to flow, set in motion by his own will, fueled by a need to feel it running through him and the vampire allowed himself to drop slowly towards the floor as he let the air out again.

The more he had missed that scent, the clearer its implication was to him, as if he was now beginning to realize what it truly did to him. He took another breath trying to grasp the essence of it.

Almost as if... could it be?

Another breath.

The feeling had become strong now... there was no longer any doubt in his mind.

Elfin ears twitched slightly as their owner focused on the sounds being sent through the air.

"Are you really sure about this?" It was that boy's voice – speaking softly, and revealing that they were still outside the mausoleum.

"Oh, quit being such a pansy will ya? Of course I'm sure."

"But... I mean... how can you be sure that he's even down there?"

"Because he said that he would be and..." Her voice lowered a bit. "...I kinda think he sleeps there at night."

"He's weird..."

"He's probably a nice person if we get to know him."

"But when he freaked out... that was kinda scary."

"I think..." She was whispering, her voice coming from inside the stone building now. "...something bad happened to him."

A beam of light shot into the dark chamber – a flashlight announcing that they were on their way down the stairs. "Chrono! Are you down there?"

"I'm here!"

A few seconds later the girl appeared in the archway. "Hi." She entered wearing a bright smile on her face and with her brother following close behind. "How are ya?"

"I'm alright." Chrono returned the smile vaguely in greeting. They had come back. Just like she said they would. A peculiar feeling of relief washed over him as his eyes settled on the two kids coming into his bleak asylum – hair the color of golden dawn, like two tiny fragments of the sun that weren't going to burn him to ash... "It's been a while."

"Yeah... I know." She came closer and sat down in front of him. "It's because of sister Raquel... she's one of our caretakers... she kinda found out about me sneaking out so they've kept an extra eye on us."

"Sorry to hear that..."

"Hi." Josh sat down next to his sister, his movements characterized by an evident apprehension. "Uhm... I'm sorry about that ur... eh jar... Rose told me that it was pretty important to you and..."

"It's alright... I guess I'm sorry too. My reaction was... out of line."

"SEE???" The blonde girl exclaimed enthusiastically. "I told you, you didn't have to be scared of him!"

"Eh... Sis..." A pained expression, matching the tone of his voice, rose in his face. He was trying very hard to disbelieve what she'd just said. For Christ's sake... the boy was sitting only 3 feet away!

"But admit it! You were." She was quite literally beaming brighter than both flashlights, and Chrono found himself to be strangely amused at the whole situation – this girl really was blunt.

Blue and very self-conscious eyes began an intense study of the ground. He was having serious fifth and sixth thoughts about coming here – way past second at least. Those had gone through his head before even getting into the cemetery. If only he'd heeded them back then. "I-ah..."

"I suppose..." The red-eyed cut in to relieve the awkward moment. "You can call it even then."

Blink. Blink. "Even?" They asked.

"Yeah..." Chrono put on a little smirk. "...as far as I recall it wasn't really Josh who soiled his underwear when you first came here."

A repressed laugh exited through the blond boy's nose like a reverse snort, while the girl's face immediately turned redder than a ripe raspberry. "What?"

"Hehe..."Josh's grin widened considerably as his laugh went from suppressed to expressive. "Y-you did?"

"Wh-what? No!" Now the grinning boy fell victim to a fit of wild chuckling – an act further stimulating the metamorphosis of his sisters face, which deformed into an expression somewhere halfway between that of an embarrassed nun and a troll who's just realized he's been cheated out of his bridge-toll money. "I SAID I DIDN'T!!!"

"Bu-but... you really... YOU DID! HAHA!" Josh made a stout effort to keep sitting up straight, as the spasms of laughing began to make his stomach ache – alas, he didn't succeed.

"NO... I... YOU..." At a complete loss for a fitting course of action the girl instinctively lunged for her initial offender, grasping the purple haired boy's head in her left arm and mercilessly driving her right fist into his scalp. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK! NOW!"

The vampire was momentarily stunned – taken completely by surprise at her reaction. His body tensed as his instincts told him he was being attacked. A growl of warning escaped between clenched teeth. The initial urge to defend himself was quickly replaced by something else though.

Her scent.

It engulfed him, sent its soothing effect flowing through him, cooled his temper, and the vampire began feeling oddly at ease during the assault. So instead of hurling his attacker through the room he did something he had never expected himself to do.

"Ahhh... I'm sorry... uncle."

He begged.

"UNCLE!"

To cater for her self-esteem, he allowed himself to be defeated.

"Hehe..." Josh sat up again and dried his eyes. "Let him go... he said he was sorry..." With an annoyed grunt the girl reluctantly complied and scooted back, still eying Chrono viciously.

"Take it easy sis..." An amiable smile was plastered across the boy's lips, as he nudged the still-blushing and outraged girl. "...you don't wanna get your panties wet." His teasing was met with another stare threatening to administer murder, mayhem and malevolent knuckle-grinding to him in righteous amounts.

'In righteous amounts' meaning 'until you've exhausted your voice screaming for mercy'.

Chrono wisely decided to switch the subject before any execution-by-noogie took place. "So... how did you make it out tonight then?"

"Oh..." Josh began. "You gotta hear this. It's really hilarious..."

"Hey! I wanna tell!" Rose interrupted seemingly forgetting that she was still supposed to be offended. "You see... because we were caught sneaking out we've been given a lot of extra chores around the center as punishment. So they've made us..." she shot a glance at Josh. "...or at least they've made _me _do a whole bunch of extra cleaning and stuff... and since I'm one of the oldest I also had to make sure that Jeremy took his medicine because he's been constipated recently..."

"You're telling it all wrong..." The blond cut into the barely initiated tale.

"I'm telling it my way!"

"Yeah? Well it's the wrong way."

"No it isn't!"

"I'm way better at telling than you are!"

"That's cause you're a snitch!"

"What? No I'm not!"

"Then what about the time you promised that you totally wasn't gonna rat on me about those oreos?"

"You said you'd share!"

Red eyes darted back and forth between the siblings. How they ever managed to get along (or stay in the same room for five seconds) when they so easily turned a simple story-telling into a verbal fight, was starting to truly mystify him. "Hey! Stop you two!" The words were almost caught in his own throat... him... telling others how to behave... the world was most certainly going to hell now. "Josh stop interrupting when she's telling a story, Rose..." He unwillingly stopped in his vocal tracks for a few fractions of a second, as if there was a thought in the back of his mind which tried to come up to the surface – strange. "...please, go on."

The girl shot a triumphant look of victory – accompanied by the not-so-refined gesture of sticking out her tongue – at her displeased brother, before deciding to continue her story. "So... a part of the extra chores was kitchen duty... the _whole _day! Since Josh was feeling ok this afternoon we both had to help make supper. And Saturday is Gullasch Day, which made it a whole lot worse 'cause it's like real icky and I even think they use rat meat instead of beef, so everyone hates kitchen duty that day and of course they know it..."

"Sis... can't you just get to the point?"

"I would if you didn't interrupt all the time!"

"I wouldn't have to, if you'd just tell it right. Chrono doesn't need to know about Gullasch Day."

"Yes he does..." She looked at him with a slightly overbearing expression. "...it gives justification to what we did, you dummy."

"Oh wow... did you get to 'J' in the dictionary already?"

"Shut up!"

The impending clash of words was cut short by an audible 'smack' resulting from Chrono's palm encountering his forehead.

"See? You're totally ruining the story Josh!"

The blond grumbled a bit before reluctantly muttering something indicating that he'd let her continue without interrupting. It was enough to get her back on track.

"So, I've been running around all day, and been really stressed... which means that I didn't see the _stupid_ toy car that somebody's forgotten in the kitchen... you know, I bet it was that little jerk Shane... anyway, because I'd just given Jeremy his evening dose I was _still_ carrying the bottle of Phillips'..." her lips formed into a roguish smile... "so when I fall... the bottle flies out of my hand... through the air and lands straight in one of the gullasch pots..."

"It's a laxative..." Josh informed.

"I hadn't even put the lid on properly..." Her smile turned into a grin.

"And it fell off in the pot..." The boy joined into the telling.

"Which means all of it had been mixed into the gullasch..."

"We were about to throw the whole thing out..."

"Yeah... but nobody actually saw it but me and Josh, cause there were nobody else in the kitchen..."

"And we could just eat from the other pot since there were two..."

"And we could serve the gullasch from that one to the adults..."

"And Shane..."

"Yeah... and Shane... and then we could sneak out when it began working... and it would be so much fun."

"We might even get rid of Gullasch Day..."

"That'd be soo sweet... I still can't forget sister Ethel's face..."

"Hah yeah! She was trying to be all calm and dignified about it... even when she ran for the bathroom! And Miriam too..."

"She wasn't calm _at all_... she almost broke the door..."

Both siblings were now grinning widely as they continued to relay the events which had put the entire orphanage into a chaotic uproar and allowed them to slip out unnoticed. Chrono had to admit he enjoyed the story. The fact that those two kids had done something which essentially was wrong, just so they could come and visit him felt good somehow. Seeing how they were now laughing and enjoying themselves by reliving it felt even better – perhaps it wasn't such a big mystery how they managed to get along after all... it almost seemed like it was them against the world.

He wouldn't mind being part of that – being against the world wasn't a foreign concept to him.

Having allies was.

"Let's go outside." Rose suddenly suggested. "It's so gloomy in here, and the weather is really nice."

"Yeah let's" Josh agreed.

"Uhh..." Chrono responded. "I really don't feel like it..."

"Why?"

"It's just... I can't say why... I just don't."

"Hm..." The blonde put on a slightly sour face that her suggestion was rejected without any reasonable explanation and the three fell into silence.

"Hey... Chrono."

Broken by Josh.

"Did you know that Rose has got something for you?"

Said girl put on a 'playing-hard-to-get' expression and crossed her arms. "Hmph... I'm not sure you deserve it when you don't even wanna go outside with us... and I haven't quite forgiven you for what you said earlier either." The fact that her cheeks were slightly flushed hinted that her reluctance most likely was a show.

"Arh... come on." The blond urged with a nudge. "Ever since you figured out that we'd be getting out here tonight you've busted your ass off, and you were so hyper that I thought you'd eaten the whole sugar bowl by yourself, plus I don't think I've seen you beg so much for permission for anything..." He was enjoying this immensely. "...so just give it to him already."

The blush was no longer restricted to the girl's cheeks, it had increased tenfold in area as well as hue, reaching up over both ears. The angry look she shot her brother could well be interpreted as 'you weren't supposed to tell him that!'

"Please..." Chrono felt he once again was preventing a sibling murder. "I'd really like it... if you don't mind."

"Well... ok... here..." She presented a paper bag, which Chrono accepted and opened with a curious expression. "I-it's not really anything big... I just thought that... well since you live here alone that you might get hungry and so I thought I'd make you something to eat..."

Staring back at him from inside the bag were twelve small, brown and slightly burned cookies.

"You don't have to eat them now, if you're not hungry..." Once again she really wanted the opposite of what she said.

"Hehe..." Josh chuckled. "You're just scared he won't like them... and you should be. I'm telling you Chrono, Rose is such a bad cook that she can't tell sugar from salt..."

"Shut up Josh. Just cause you don't think I can bake."

Chrono grabbed a cookie from inside the bag, and it immediately made the children in front of him go mute. He inspected it shortly – it really was such a worthless gift, he couldn't even digest them and would either have to regurgitate or waste his strength to get them out of his system again should he eat them. Yet the thought behind was extremely meaningful and it almost succeeded in warming up his still and cold heart – something only the blood of the living could actually do.

He took a small bite. Without looking up he could sense that the girl's blush had renewed and she was involuntarily holding her breath in anticipation. Her brother eyed her with a suspicious look.

As he chewed on the crispy piece of bakery Chrono's acute senses immediately dissected the cookie discerning in less than a second what was in it.

Flour.

Sugar.

Margarine.

Egg.

Baking powder.

Bit of salt.

Coffee???

Chrono made sure to hide his amusement at the out-of-place taste. Josh's accusation towards her culinary skills certainly weren't unfounded as she must have mistaken coffee with cocoa... and what the atrocious amount of cinnamon and ground ginger was doing in the cookie was probably a mystery to even the wisest of sages. His lips formed into a smile. Awful would simply not be a strong enough word to describe how this would taste to a human – a crazy amalgam of three different cookie types further violated by having a vital ingredient for one of them substituted with something largely considered inedible. But Chrono wasn't human. His taste buds were as dead to mortal food as his lungs were to mortal air. He didn't taste the ingredients – merely confirmed their presence. What he tasted, was something else entirely. He tasted the girl's fingers that had mixed those ingredients together. He tasted her breath which had lodged itself in the unbaked dough, and stayed in the final result. He tasted her hard work – a bit of sweat, that her hand must have wiped from her brow sometime during the molding. Those tastes were quite literally her scent in solid form, and the vampire allowed himself to close his eyes and lean back as he reveled in it. Twelve cookies, twelve little things that supposedly was of no use to him, but also twelve invaluable pieces of that indescribable feeling he had craved since she first came down here – of which there were now eleven left. Even though eating them wouldn't nurture him, but rather sap his blood by forcing him to disintegrate and expunge them through the use of his power, he knew that he would enjoy them. And for reasons he still did not quite fathom he could open his eyes again, look into hers, and let her know that

"they're great"

without lying even the slightest bit.

Rose uttered a small giggle and immediately flashed a toothy smile of pride towards a profoundly skeptical Josh. "See! I told you I could bake!" Her complexion was still a healthy scarlet but she seemed a lot less self-conscious about it now.

"Bah..." The blond let himself fall over backwards, stretching out lazily while addressing the cookie juror. "Either your sense of taste is all screwed up, or you're just lying cause you know she'll give you another noogie if you don't."

"Well maybe it's _you _who's gotten a screwed up taste." Rose retorted, not quite willing to let go of her newly achieved status as proficient in a kitchen. "Right Chrono?"

"Yeah..."

"Man..." Josh's flashlight began scanning the far end of the room. He was now convinced that the boy living down here was _very _strange, and his sister seemed to already begin forging a kind of alliance with him – something he had never seen her do so quickly with anyone ever before. "I don't know which one of you two is more weir-WOW!" He immediately jumped to his feet and took a few quick steps towards the corner his flashlight had settled on.

"COOL SWORD!"

He was just about to reach for it when something made him stop. Looking back towards the two who were still sitting down he asked with a tinge of nervousness. "Uhm... may I?"

Chrono shot him a reassuring smile."It's called a falcata – and yes, you may."

"Wow!" His hand went to touch the intricately formed snake-dragon handle. The weapon, leaning against the wall, stood a bit over 3 feet tall. It was a completely uniform gray metal color, completely devoid of any junctions, as if the whole thing had been somehow molded out of a single slab of steel. The handle was not like any regular sword, it had no real guard and the odd U-shape gave it a pistol-like grip. The wide blade curved slightly inwards and was covered in strange runes. "Is it yours?"

(AN: Wanna see what type of weapon Chrono's sword is? Then go to: www. reliks. com/ merchant. ihtml? pid 1246 (remove spacings and put an equality sign between 'pid' and '1246'))

"Yes... I suppose it is." Chrono answered.

Josh's eyes were two glittering dinner-plate sized windows leading straight into his enthralled soul as his hand secured around the grip of the sword. "Have you seen this Sis... it's just like an inside-out scimita..." His expression immediately changed to a deep frown and his eyes extinguished like snuffed candles, when his wrist failed to lift the weapon.

"It looks really nice... aww... is it too heavy for you?" The girl teased.

"What... the..." The boy managed to express in a strained voice as he put in more strength. "What's this thing made of? Lead?"

Chrono smiled at the blond's valiant efforts. "It's solid tungsten... lead's too soft for making a weapon." He considered lending a helping hand but quickly dismissed that thought when he noticed the sternness in the boy's features – this was obviously a task he was determined to accomplish himself, and he didn't seem likely to give up anytime soon. An offer of help would most certainly be refused.

The blond was now becoming increasingly frustrated with the heavy sword, and didn't appear to hear anything – at least until his sister giggled at his hardships, causing him to redouble his efforts. "Hnnggnn..." The sound escaped from somewhere deep inside his throat as he was now using both hands in getting the disobliging blade off the ground. A vein seemed to pop out of nowhere on his neck and his face turned angry tomato with exertion. The scrutiny he was under made it impossible for him to stop now – male pride was such a bloody hassle. "Gnnnn..." Slowly the blade began to lift off the ground as his huffing, puffing and dangerously high amount of blood to the head began to bear fruit.

Appearing mostly like an overworked steam engine the boy slowly raised the blade in triumph and managed to hold it horizontal for a whole three seconds before it fell down again hitting the stone floor with a loud 'clank'.

"Yay..." Rose cheered and clapped... she simply couldn't resist the opportunity.

"S-shut up (pant) I'd li-like to (gasp) see you try..."

"I'm a girl..." She said with false indignation. "...I'm not supposed to be a warrior."

"Hah... don't... listen to that BS Chrono. She's the most violent bearcat north of the south pole."

"Hey! That's not true."

"Is too."

"I must admit..." Chrono said with a smile. "... that my scalp agrees with Josh."

"Uhmm... yeah... well... that was only fair."

"Maybe..." Chrono rose to his feet and walked towards the blond who was still holding the handle of the sword with the blade resting on the floor. He took the weapon from him with both hands, putting on a bit of an act to hide how easy it was for him to lift. "You know, this really is a heavy sword, managing to hold it outstretched like you did isn't easy."

Josh frowned, although swelling somewhat with the praise. "I still don't get it... why make it so heavy? You'd have to be incredibly strong to swing it."

"You're right. But for someone who is strong enough the weight would put that much more momentum behind the swing." The vampire looked over the weapon. "Even though it may look like it, it isn't exactly what you'd call a graceful sword. The shape isn't designed for finesse, but rather to split metal and chop off limbs and heads... even cleave an entire body in two."

"Bwadr..." The blonde girl, who had joined the two boys, said. "That's gross."

Chrono turned to look at her, her eyes were fixed on the sword, giving it a very disapproving look. "Well, it's a weapon." He stated simply. "It's not really supposed to be a nice thing."

"You know what I think Sis?" Josh looked around. "I think Jeremy would really like this place."

The vampire nearly swallowed his tongue.

"I think he'd be too scared to come... I mean he _is_ a bit of a chicken." Rose answered as Chrono's expression became more panicked. This... this was not supposed to happen!

"Yeah, but that's why he's always Marcus Brody when we play Indy... hey, this place would be great for that, like some sort of ancient forgotten tomb..." Frantic thoughts raced behind crimson eyes – if more were to know about this place then eventually... inevitably...

"...and we still haven't explored the other..."

"You can't!" The words were said in a much harsher tone than he liked himself. His expression had become strained, his body tense, his blood ready to be unleashed...

"Huh..."

"You can't let _anybody_ know about this place." He was... threatened...

"Why not?"

"It's just..." These kids were... trying to expose his haven! They were _threatening_... HIM!

"It's just what?"

"Just..." He inhaled. "...keep this a secret... please."

"But why would... hmm..." The girl began looking thoughtful, before displaying a shrewd smile. "Alright. We won't tell, but only if you come outside with us."

"What?"

"It's boring to sit down here all the time, and I really wanna go outside now."

"Yeah... I'd like to go outside too." The blond agreed.

"If you come with us, then we _promise _not to tell anyone..." She turned to look at her brother. "Right... Josh?"

"Cross my heart."

Goddammit! How the hell did this suddenly happen... in less than a minute they had managed to corner him so easily. With no easy way out. If he _didn't_ leave the chamber they would most certainly _not_ keep this place a secret... others would know... people would talk... eventually _they _would come to investigate... they would find him...

His eyes turned towards the urn...

Find... take... desecrate... _her_!

But if he _did _leave... then what... wouldn't _they_ notice? And wouldn't it... He wasn't ready for it. But he had to... didn't he? To keep it a secret... or... did he? Did he really have to? Wasn't there another way? Couldn't he... Couldn't he just...

_**'. . . make sure they don't leave!'**_

"So, are you coming or not?"

_**'Make sure they don't talk!'**_

"Chrono... we're leaving now..." The girl put on her most persuasive face while trying to hide that his reluctance bugged her immensely.

_**'Make sure they never . . .'**_

_'NO!'_

NOT an option.

Chrono looked up again, the kids were waiting for him at the archway... smiling.

"Alright."

He began walking towards them looking anything but well. But there was no way around it... and maybe it was better to leave the tomb now while they were still here... then again, maybe not. Funny thing about not being ready to do something: It's never the right time and it hardly ever helps to wait.

"Great! Race ya!" The boy turned on his heel and darted up the stairway.

"HEY!" The girl immediately gave chase. "False start!" And within seconds the purple haired boy was left behind alone in the tomb.

Slowly he went towards the stairs and looked up the narrow passageway – they had already run out.

He moved cautiously forward, right foot placed on the first step, as if the construction was so fragile that a mere gust of wind could make it collapse.

Second step... third step... already the air seemed fresher... more vibrant... more alive...

Fourth step... his eyes began to light up as his nose caught the scent of dew...

Fifth step...

Sixth...

Sounds, smells, sensations became exponentially stronger with each passing step, and the vampire lost more and more of his initial apprehension. Halfway up the stairs the instinct began to completely overrode rational thoughts, and he felt himself being forcefully drawn forth by the lure of the night as it reeled him in.

"I don't think he's even coming at all..." Chrono's ears easily picked up Josh's statement – he focused on it.

"Well if he doesn't I'm going down there to drag him out." She was clearly annoyed now.

"You really want him to come out of there, don't you?" He sounded playful.

"Well, he shouldn't sit down there all the time... it's dark and creepy and depressing and... a lot of other bad things."

She was right. It was pretty dismal place, but he had needed to stay there to keep himself away from everything.

"OK... so... you want me to come with you... or would you rather go... alone?" Now THAT was a tease if ever Chrono heard one.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, just... I think... you like him."

The vampire couldn't help smiling at that notion... if they only knew how powerful his hearing really was...

"What? No I don't. I don't even know him. I just think it's..."

"Hah... you soooo like him... you liiiiiiiike him."

"I don't! So shut up."

"I think I'll go tell him... then he'll probably come out right away."

"Don't you dare!"

"HEY CHRONO!" The boy yelled, still outside.

"You little SNITCH!" The girl's outburst was followed by Josh's laughter and the sound of rapid footsteps through grass and fallen leaves... undoubtedly a chase. Chrono realized he had made it to the top of the stairs now, only a few more steps remained before...

He braced himself, and went for the exit.

And it hit him like a lightning bolt through the nervous system.

Everything was glittering... filled with colors. His eyes were literally assaulted by the light of night, even though only the dim glow of stars illuminated the dark grove and the mausoleum which stood as a corroded monument of hopelessness. Smells flowed thick through the air, from the fallen leaves of a summer in retreat – grass, trees, moist and fertile soil to exhaust fumes, oil, concrete, paint. The sounds of hundreds of different animals, scores of motorized vehicles driving through the night, mingled with voices of thousands of humans carrying millions of thoughts which seemed to pour into him like wildfires... carrying blood!

The city had grown.

Oh it had definitely grown!

"Augh!"

"Take that!"

His senses were suddenly attracted to the two children wrestling on the ground, Josh was apparently on the losing side being caught in a headlock and forced into a carpet of leaves. Chrono went towards the two combatants intending to break them up, but he stopped in his tracks when the tussle was terminated by something ominous.

Rose immediately let go of the blond as he was overcome by an uncontrolled fit of coughing. His whole body cramped up and the horrified expression on his sisters face resembled someone having dropped a priceless possession made of porcelain. "Josh!" She cried as she lifted him into her lab. "Are you ok? Josh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to get so mad!" She cradled and tried to hold him still as the harsh and wrenching sound of lungs strained by poor health escaped through his mouth along with a bit of saliva. "Josh!" The girl searched frantically through the boy's pocket before finally fishing out a little inhaler which she quickly brought to his mouth.

The fit began to lessen.

"Josh. Say something."

He coughed a few more times, his body still being wracked by the spasms, albeit to a somewhat lesser degree. "So-some... thing..." An immediate relief lit up her face and a sad, caring smile replaced her previous look of panic.

Chrono found himself unable to do anything but just stand and watch.

"Idiot..." Rose reprimanded in a good-natured voice. "... you know you're supposed to tell me when you're not feeling well..." She lowered her head and her voice. "I'm sorry... it's just... when I get so mad... I sort of... forget..." She wrapped her arms gently around him pulling him towards her. "...I'm sorry."

"It's ok." The boy responded apparently having recovered somewhat. "I kinda... like it when you forget..." He pushed her back making her reluctantly release her hold.

"It makes me forget too..."

The vampire was literally transfixed by what took place in front of him. They were so bright and vibrant... so forcefully alive... and yet it all seemed so fragile, like a gleaming crystal painting that could shatter any moment.

"_A bit of that healing power is present in our spittle . . ."_

As the memory of a beautiful voice rang through his thoughts, his gaze traveled towards his arm.

"_A lot more . . . is in our blood . . ."_

No.

He couldn't do that...

"Hmph..." The girl said with a little frown as she gave him back the inhaler. "Well, you shouldn't... you need to take better care of yourself... have you remembered to take your medicine?"

"Yes mom... oh... look who's come outside. Hey Chrono!"

"Hi..." He responded in a meek voice, partly because he felt he was intruding and partly because he felt like the involuntary catalyst for the boy's coughing fit.

Rose turned around and smiled, well pleased by the fact that he had actually come outside, but trying to hide that his appearance unsettled her. Out here she could see how pale he really was, it was almost to the point of looking ill. His facial features were gloomy and darkened by his hair, which seemed a lot duller than she had thought it would. Still... they were all just superficial signs of him having been living alone and possibly too much indoor. Nothing that couldn't easily be mended with a bit of food and sun...

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

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"See that? That was at least six!"

"No it wasn't... four tops!"

"What do you think Chrono?"

Chrono rolled to his side lazily, shifting his attention from the sky to the lake. In all honesty he hadn't seen how many skips the stone had made before sinking to the bottom, so he decided to offer the diplomatic answer. "I'd say five."

"Alright... five then." Josh lowered his previous estimate.

"You said that way too quickly. You know it was only four."

Chrono quickly shifted his attention back to the starry blanket above. He had been a part of the contest at first but had resigned after being constantly beaten by the two 'finalists'. Apparently being Kindred didn't make him any better at stone skipping than he'd used to be.

Kindred...

Did he qualify for that label still... did he even want to?

The argument of whether Josh's stone had eluded its watery demise four or five times continued and the vampire silently hoped not to be asked his opinion about this again since there was no such thing as four-and-a-half skips. They seemed to come to some sort of agreement on the matter involving rock, paper, scissors which suited him just fine.

Right now he really just wanted to sink into this feeling of contentment – resting peacefully on the grass and taking in everything around him. He wasn't even that hungry, he hadn't been ever since the kids had showed up, which was as odd as it was pleasantly relaxing. It meant that as long as they were nearby, as long as that scent calmed his inner self, he was allowed to concentrate on the marvel that the world surrounding him was. The tomb really had been so quiet and bleak... out here there were sounds of crickets, nocturnal birds, an owl, the sonar of a bat... the whole proverbial 'Children of the Night' orchestra had literally showed up to give a concert, and he was more than just a little surprised by how much he cherished being able to simply lie down and listen to it.

"What time is it?" Josh asked as Rose drowned another stone.

"Half past ten. Why?"

"Just wondering... since we have to get up early tomorrow."

"Bah... I hate Sunday school. You're supposed to sleep late on weekends."

"Heh... you sleep during class anyway."

"Well, it's not my fault they make it so boring."

Chrono kept a casual ear on their conversation. So apparently it was Saturday. Good thing to know. Now he just had to find out what year it was and he'd fit right in...

The city had grown a lot. Indeed, this indicated that he must have slept for a lot longer than just a few years. There was no telling what the world might look like, and trying to imagine how much had happened in such a long time was bound to fail. Even the Kindred community could have been subject to major change. Los Angeles could be under a completely different rulership, as could the rest of the west coast for that matter, considering how unstable the region was back then. He groaned mentally at the thought. Back then. If ever there was a time he wanted to forget about... he had been no better than the worst of those Sabbat monsters...

Well, at least it was somewhat reassuring that the two kids were so comfortable being outside at night. It indicated that the heresy cult couldn't be the ones in power. A city ruled by the Sabbat... it wasn't pretty to say the least.

Something struck his cheek.

Were they throwing things at him instead of the lake now?

"Penny for your thoughts."

Chrono glanced down at the little copper-colored projectile which had come to a rest next to his head. The children had apparently ended their contest peacefully and were situated next to him on the grass, Rose sitting cross-legged and Josh lying on his back. He turned to face them as he sat up and grabbed the coin.

"Well?" She asked.

"Well what?"

"I just gave you a penny... and since you've taken it you _have_ to tell us what you were thinking."

"I was... just looking at the stars..." Chrono pocketed the penny. "I think... I had somehow forgotten how beautiful the night sky really is." Considering it actually was a lie to her question there was a remarkable amount of truth in it.

"I like looking at them too." Josh's right hand left it's place beneath the back of his head, stretching towards the sky as it seemingly tried to grasp one of the blinking lights. The hand failed in its task before returning to where it came from.

Rose looked down at him with an expression which could seem slightly apologetic. "Stargazing... huh..." She said. "I don't really like that so much."

"How come?" The red eyed asked.

"It's just..." She leaned back, supporting her upper body with her arms. "...it reminds me how everything is so big and all... it just makes me feel small and insignificant."

"Well..." Chrono responded with a little smile. "It shouldn't make you feel small... it should make you feel big."

"Why?"

In a motion much too quick for the eye the vampire shot his arm out behind him and closed his hand around something – neither child noticed.

"You're right. The universe _is_ big. It's probably a lot bigger than you could ever imagine. But... it's also cold, and empty, and extremely hostile. Everywhere you go you will find nothing but the deepest, darkest blackness. There is no air meaning you will choke to death within seconds, although your skull will be frozen solid before it happens."

Josh rolled to his stomach, finding a comfortable position with his chin resting on the back of his hands. He turned his attention towards the pale boy, who made a sweeping motion with his hand – pointing at the entire sky. "The only light you will ever see are those millions of tiny dots that are all too far away for you to reach. But if you reach them, you will find that the light is even more murderous than the darkness, that it will consume and incinerate you in less than the blink of an eye, leaving nothing behind. Even if you stay far away so you won't burn, simply looking at the lights will destroy your eyes, blind you permanently. You will be bombarded with invisible rays that will tear you apart from the inside and cause you to die in one of the most painful ways imaginable as your body tries to cough up its vital organs."

The girl winced slightly at the descriptions but found it strangely compelling somehow. She lay down on her stomach, finding a spot next to her brother who was also becoming increasingly absorbed.

"There are wastelands... vast, desolate and scorched under a merciless sun, completely dry except for lakes of molten, toxic metal, and when the sun finally sets, those lakes freeze over solid as the land turns from blazing hot to bitter cold."

"There are places where no light can ever penetrate, where acid constantly pours from the sky, and where the atmosphere crushes muscles and bones before the rain dissolves what little is left. There are places so cold that air itself has become liquid and turned into a deadly freezing stream covering an entire world. But..."

Chrono leaned forward and spoke in a secretive whisper.

"I know of this one place..."

(CC soundtrack gospel 1 – 22 Chrno no Yasashisa / Chrno's Kindness)

The two blonds scooted a bit closer in order to hear better.

"...it's a very secret place. It's not very big but it's very special and also very hard to find. It's a place that's blue and green and every other color of the rainbow – the exact opposite to the infinite void it plunges through. It's a place with tall windswept mountains, lush valleys, bustling cities, and deep dark roaring oceans. It's a place of gentle breezes and violent storms, of mild warmth and refreshing cold. It is a constantly buzzing beehive that never truly sleeps... overflowing with an abundance of life, home to some of the most extraordinary things. Some are tiny winged beings fluttering about from one plant to another, one more colorful and strange-looking than the next. Some are massive creatures bigger than a house, yet so peaceful and docile that you know there is no need to be afraid of them. And some are..."

The vampire presented his hand and opened it slowly, both kids stared wide-eyed into it as the fingers spread revealing the hidden contents. "...little pieces of light."

Crawling in Chrono's palm, unharmed, yet utterly confused, was a small firefly. It walked aimlessly around a bit – it's rear body shining with a gentle yellow glow – not quite sure whether it should fly away or not. After walking around itself a few times it became adventuresome and started on a hike, intending to conquer one of the nearby spires that rose into the air. The trek towards the fingertip was over in just a few seconds, and the insect continued further downward towards the back of the pale hand before realizing, with grave disappointment, that it had already passed the summit. The title of 'greatest mountain-climbing firefly in history' would come some other time. It turned back and settled on the highest point it could find, its lower abdomen periodically lighting up, like a tiny natural lighthouse, calling out to others of its kind.

Two pair of azure eyes studied the little luminous 'explorer' intently, the kids not daring to breathe for fear of scaring it off. "Those who live at that place have a name for it." Chrono continued. "They call it Earth... A little piece of something, within a great nothing."

Bored with waiting, the insect took off into the air to continue its search elsewhere. Crimson eyes followed the incandescent bug for a second before returning to meet those of the nearly mesmerized children. "And just... being alive... being part of that something... inside a universe that is so bent on destroying all life... it becomes quite a big thing you know."

Only the sounds of crickets broke the silence when the tale came to an end.

Josh rolled to his back and stared in mute awe up at the night sky. Rose looked towards the ground, twisting a straw of grass around her finger, first winding it clockwise, then unwinding and doing the same thing counter-clockwise.

"I never..." She said in a soft voice. "...thought about it that way..."

"Chrono?" Josh asked after a few seconds. "Do you think there's life somewhere else?"

"I don't know... I suppose... I don't see why there shouldn't be."

"You know it'd be so awesome if there was." He rolled to his stomach again, his eyes were lighting up. "Then we could go in search of them... become space-explorers and travel to other planets and find all sorts of new and exciting things!"

Chrono smiled at the boy's imagination... although... he realized... he actually didn't know just how much of it really was imagination... quite a big part he assumed.

"We could become known as the three explorers that went against the dangers of space. You said that Chrono! That there was nowhere more dangerous, and we could write about it, and become famous! People would say: Oh look there's Josh, Rose and Chrono, the three that went against the dangers of space! Wouldn't it be awesome?" He became increasingly absorbed in the fantasy.

"Or Rose, Josh and Chrono." The girl suggested still circling the straw of grass around her finger.

"Or..." The vampire joined in."...Chrono, Josh and Rose..."

"No way!" The excited blond boy exclaimed. "They both sound stu-cough... pi-ough..." Another fit of coughing assaulted him without warning, droplets of sweat burst forth on his forehead as his body convulsed violently and he scrunched up in the blink of an eye. Rose immediately rushed to his side, lifting up his upper body so more air could access his lungs. "Josh... a-are you ok?" She tried sounding calm but failed. The fit was over very shortly but his complexion had turned nearly white, his eyes were glazed over and she could feel his temperature had risen dramatically.

Chrono moved over next to the girl. The boy's heart still beat at a normal pace, and even though his aura was slightly erratic, it was not near critical, so he would ride out the attack... this time. "Maybe you should rest." He suggested.

"Yeah..." His voice was only a whisper. "...even... explorers need to sleep... sometimes..."

"Do you want to go home now...?" The blonde asked but received no response from him, he had already closed his eyes, apparently craving rest now more than anything. She put him down gently on the ground. "I don't think I'll ever get used to this. It wasn't always this bad."

Chrono had no response to that, and so decided to say nothing. Josh could become cold even though it was fairly mild weather, so he began unbuttoning his jacket. Drape style meant it was long enough to almost act as a blanket. He tucked the boy in wrapping the clothing tight around his sleeping form.

Rose gasped.

The shirt Chrono wore was worn and missed part of the left sleeve, it revealed the nasty burn which marred his lower left arm - a dark, swollen and chapped scar standing in stark contrast to the otherwise pale skin. Sensing her eyes glued on it he answered before she could ask. "It's an old wound, that never quite healed."

"But... doesn't it hurt?"

"Physically... no."

"How did you get it?"

"If you don't mind... I'd rather not talk about that."

"Sorry..." She bit her lower lip in a self-conscious gesture. "I didn't mean to pry."

"It's OK."

They fell into silence again. Chrono turned to his gaze towards the lake, Rose turned hers towards her brother who was now sleeping soundly protected from the cold by the purple haired boy's long suit jacket.

Such a strange boy.

A boy who had been living underground in the dark, his only companion being the ashes of somebody who had died. A boy who seemed so sad and angry for reasons she didn't know and didn't feel she could ask about. A boy who had been so aggressive and close-mouthed when she first met him, and yet minutes ago he had told such a nice story... something which had made her feel happy inside... something which had made Josh happy... something which had made Josh remember his dream.

Something...

Something about all this just wasn't fair!

Chrono shouldn't have to sit in a tomb, or wear these old, ragged clothes. He shouldn't have to be so sad about things that happened sometime in the past. He shouldn't have to be alone...

And he shouldn't have to always hide his face beneath the dark locks of his hair. "Hey, turn around." She said in a more cheery tone.

"What?"

"Turn. Around. You understand English don't you?"

Chrono did as he was told and turned his back to the girl. He felt her scoot closer, and two small hands entered his hair. "What are you doing?"

"I'm bringing out your face, you dummy." She halted when she pulled the hair back... "Wait... are these real? You're not an elf are you?" How could she not have noticed this before?

"No..." Chrono replied with a smile... that was the second supernatural creature she had considered him to be. He wondered which one would come next, and what he would answer should she ever ask him if he was a vampire. "I just used to get pulled around a lot by the ears." He replied in a half-joke.

The girl giggled slightly as she gathered the long hair and split it into three seemingly equal parts. Her curiosity got the better of her though.

A jolt ran through Chrono's body at her fingers closing softly around the top edge of his left ear, a minuscule hiss escaped from his lips, something he couldn't quite hold back.

The girl withdrew her hand almost immediately. "Sorry..." she said feeling like she had trespassed into forbidden territory. She quickly returned to untangling the violet hair. Considering how dull and lifeless it appeared (not to mention how messy), she was surprised to discover it was smooth as silk and incredibly easy to work with, as if he took extremely good care of it – except from combing it of course. She didn't even notice any split ends and the whole thing made no sense. There were just too many paradoxes about him that she almost didn't know where to start.

Chrono looked casually over the lake, relaxing his eyes on the vision of the moon reflected in the calm waters, as he submerged in the feeling of Rose playing with his hair. Fingers darting in and out of the locks as improvised combs, straightening out whatever tangles they found and occasionally diving all the way to his scalp. That actually felt pretty good – a lot better than her knuckles had earlier this evening. It was strange how he could enjoy such a simple feeling. A lot of things were strange right now. He was almost even breathing regularly, in no small part due to his growing addiction to her smell. He let out a slow breath. Right now he felt more at peace than he had felt in a long, long time... perhaps he had never been so much at peace since his embrace... a part of him wanted to feel guilty at that notion but still found it hard to deny the truth of it. And he wanted to express it. "Tonight... really has been great. Thank you Rose..."

_**'. . . sette!'**_

And his eyes immediately went wide.

"You're welcome." The girl chirped as her hand undid one of the ribbons holding her own pigtail.

"Rose..." The name was spoken in a near-whisper. "...sette."

"Eh... what?" The girl asked mystified as half of her hair began falling out, golden strands spilling towards her shoulder.

"It's just..." He blinked, still looking at the calmness of the water. "Would you mind... if I called you Rosette?"

The girl looked into his back with a puzzled expression while her body turned completely still. The only thing not appearing to be in stasis was the ribbon dangling from her hand. It wasn't as if she hadn't been called things other than her name, Josh called her sis, at some point some kids at the orphanage had named her klutzy-rosy – though she'd made sure that didn't last very long. Then there was Shane... he'd started calling her the Rosinator when she'd stepped on and broken his action figure... well... the second time she did that...

Rosette... was different though.

Rosette was... pretty.

Nobody had ever called her anything pretty before.

A little smile graced the blonde girl's face. "No. I won't mind. Now hold still until I've tied the ribbon in." She was slightly thankful for him facing the other way since he wouldn't see the rising red in her cheeks. "There... done."

Chrono reached back to feel the braid she had made. It was firm and tightly wound, and would not fall out right away. He turned around again. "So... did it help?"

"Much better." She commented. "Now you can actually see your face."

A few feet away josh stirred in his sleep drawing the attention of the girl and the vampire.

She looked at her wristwatch. "It's past eleven... me and Josh had better get back home."

Chrono nodded his understandment and rose to his feet. "Should we wake him up now then?"

"Nah... I can carry him back." She stood up as well walking towards the sleeping boy and gently began tugging on the red jacket covering him.

He went over beside her. "You sure you can do it... I mean I can..."

"Hey, it's my brother." She gave him a serious look. "I've given him piggy-back rides like a million times and I can easily carry him back." She slowly pulled out the jacket earning a little groan from Josh who rolled to his side.

"But... it's just that..."

"What?" She began looking severely displeased with him, taking care of her brother was HER job.

"Well... I mean it's just that you're..." He couldn't quite say 'a kid' or 'human', although that was probably the two best reasons for letting him do it – he wouldn't get tired carrying him.

"What?" She shot to her feet. "A GIRL? Is that it? Is that what you wanted to say? Listen buster just cause you're a boy doesn't mean that you're better than me. And Josh is MY brother which means that I'M carrying him."

"Christ! That's not what I meant, Rosette!" Chrono retorted, the name feeling oddly natural to him. "I just offered to help, because I thought..."

"Thought what? That I couldn't handle it? You know what? I can! It's not as if I NEED your help! I can take care of myself, And Josh, I'm not some little helpless..."

"No, you're just stubborn and opinionated!"

"What? YOU'RE the one who's opinionated! YOU'RE the one who thinks that I can't handle myself! YOU'RE the one who thinks that boys are better than girls! YOU'RE the one... what? What's so funny?"

The laughter had hit him instantly, caused by the ridiculousness of the situation which could be said to be almost palpable: Here he was, an immortal predator being lectured and scolded by what supposedly was his prey: A blonde girl who was so fiercely protective of her brother that she immediately went into military mode when she felt somebody tried to take that responsibility from her. As she stood there pointing accusingly at him, eyes blazing, teeth barred, with half of her hair in a pigtail and the other half hanging loose towards her shoulder she looked anything but sane.

And laughing really was the only sane response.

"Why are you LAUGHING?" She exclaimed about to wallop him over the head just to shut him up.

Chrono looked up, gazing at the perplexed girl. "Well... It's just that we don't actually know each other that well, and yet we're already fighting over who gets to carry your sleeping brother."

She crossed her arms, trying to keep up her guard even though his smile successfully disarmed her. "Hmph... and I'll be the one who's gonna do it, you're not going to win over me."

"I can see that." He replied with a smirk. "But at least let me help lifting him on your back then... as payment for the nice braid you made of course." He quickly added.

"Alright."

Through mutual effort Josh was soon hoisted onto his sisters back with his arms firmly around her neck. "Are you staying here then?" The blonde asked as she was about to walk off with her 'baggage', she realized that asking him to come along to the orphanage now would be... awkward.

Chrono donned his jacket and looked back towards the grove where the mausoleum he had spent an unknown amount of time in stood. "I don't actually know... I've got some things I need to do actually."

"Oh... but will you still be here if we come back?"

"Yeah... I will."

"Ok." She smiled at the assurance. "See ya, then!" Turning around she began walking down the path.

Chrono stood for some time just looking at her retreating figure, following it with his vision as it strode towards where the two lived with vigorous steps. Two small children, that really deserved to be alive, to be happy, and to be laughing. Two small children journeying through the darkness like beacons of light... and perhaps... they could be lights for him as well... Carrying his redemption within their beating hearts... like she was now carrying them through the night to the safety of their home. Carrying that soothing scent of divinity which still managed to linger in the air around him.

"Rosette..." His ears picked up Josh's voice – weary, but teasing.

"Weren't you asleep?"

"I just... heard you fight... heard... he's already... given you a pet name... when's the wedding?"

"Shut up, or you can walk!"

Chrono shook his head at he girl's response. She really was a quite a spirited hothead – definitely not hard to anger.

He tilted his head backwards and closed his eyes. Her scent was retreating, and others were taking over – especially the sweet crimson one. He sniffed the air a few times. His senses pinpointing the scents, determining direction, distance, and most importantly: Quantity.

His eyes opened again – blazing red. A smile spread on his lips – one showing teeth. With a hiss of eagerness the vampire began making his way silently to the edge of the park.

It was time to re-enter the night.

Time to hunt.

* * *

Now before I get flamed by any zoologist saying that fireflies don't occur that late in the year or in the Western US at all, I just want to say that I'm pretty certain that I can figure out a perfectly supernatural explanation for how Chrono produces one. Aside from that this was a long chappy alright, and one sporting an almost obscene amount of quintessential CC situations like the awful cookie thing, the braiding, the noogie attack, the story-telling etc. I also managed to equip Chrono with a weapon (must admit that quite a bit of thought went into that one but I'm geeky like that ;-) ), and put in a few classical clichés like the whole laxative-prank (overdone you say, noooo...). I did search a bit for a brand name and stumbled upon an interesting warning regarding overdosing of magnesium hydroxide (the active ingredient in the one used in here): 

'Seek emergency medical attention if an overdose is suspected.

Symptoms of an magnesium hydroxide overdose include nausea, vomiting, flushing, low blood pressure, a slow heartbeat, drowsiness, coma, and death.'

Gosh... that sounds pretty serious, doesn't it? So I guess if you happen to die... you may want to consult a doctor to find out if you've taken a(n) magnesium chloride overdose.

Anyway even though this chapter wasn't very plot-advancing I'm still pretty happy with it because I feel the chara... (gasps)

argh...

(heaves)

can't... brea...

(collapses to floor)

urgh...

(chokes)

need...

(gurgles)

re...

(falls unconscious)

Dramatic voice: **Is this it? Is this the end for this questionable author? Will there no longer be sporadic updates to his poorly contrived and clichéd tales. Or will the reviews of caring and considerate readers **(numbers above 50 are supposed to posses extraordinary healing powers)** save his broken muse from certain death and writer's block? Only time will tell!**

(Screen fades to black... if you turn it off that is)


	13. 2,3: Reenter the Dark

Author's frustration:

SON OF A **#&#/("**.

I believe I said something last time about wanting to do shorter chapters because I _hate_ proofreading these 10K+ things (I went a bit fast over some of this, if there's anything appaling, let me know). Well... maybe I didn't say last time that I wanted to do shorter chapters, but then I intended to do here. I actually tried limiting the size of this one – obviously I failed miserably. I don't know what the hell's wrong with me, but for some reason I can't keep my chapters short – I just end up pouring more and more stuff into them... dammit. It's actually starting to bug me a bit, since I'd rather update more often with shorter ones, I just can't seem to do that. Now, I hope you don't mind these chapter lengths, since I know that long chapters (especially when read on a computer screen) can be a hassle to get through. If you don't mind, that's good. If you do... well then kudos to you for getting this far.

Anyway 'nuff of that

Little correction: I changed the hotel name in earlier chapters from 'Hilton' to 'Savoy', mainly because I found a tiny piece of 'irony of fate' I could incorporate this way, it doesn't change the story in any way though.

Disclaimer: Craziest thing happened. Daisuke Moriyama called and offered that I could help write an official sequel to the Chrno Crusade anime since he wasn't particularly happy with it either, and of course I would get royalties and whatnot. Unfortunately a recent head injury due to a biking accident, has destroyed the center of my brain which allowed me to feel happiness, so it wasn't really that great.

Thanks for the reviews by the way, for some magical reason they can get around the brain damage and make me a happier person.

* * *

Bit of music for parts of the chapter, as always just something I felt fit during writing – nothing mandatory. 

Lux Aerterna (Theme from Requiem for a dream, Paul Oakenfold remix)

youtube. com/ watch? v 4gb56OcUSTM

J. S. Bach – Air

youtube. com/ watch? v CyLo9-Voy5s

As always just remove the spacings and copy/paste in your browser. Remember to insert an equality sign after the 'v' (the one right after the question mark). That goes for _all _youtube links, for those of you unfamiliar with that site (heh). You may want to open up the 'Bach' link right away and pause it, since the last time I tried it, the site took at least twice the time of the video's length to stream, which makes for a very 'choppy' listening experience.

Onward to story:

* * *

It is no coincidence that Kindred more often refer to themselves as being 'undying' or 'unliving' rather than 'immortal'. 

The vampire body has no natural heat, no respiratory function, and no heartbeat. The lungs will not obtain air when breath is taken, the stomach will not produce acid making mortal food indigestible, and every single inner organ ceased to function at the time of the embrace. Blood isn't even nourishment in the same way that food is to a human. It doesn't keep the vampire 'alive', but only allows for the corpse-like body to be animated.

In all respects the vampire is clinically dead.

But there is more to it than that.

The vampire can in fact be said to posses no true feelings of her own. Everything that she feels – or thinks she feels – is actually no more than the echo of something she felt when she was alive. If something manages to anger her, she will seem angry, and she will very much feel so herself. However, the truth is that this anger is nothing but a replica of how she responded to something which upset her during her mortal life. If she never experienced a particular emotion – be it embarrassment, happiness or perhaps love – before becoming a vampire, it would be impossible for her to feel it afterwards. Over the course of years, as her human life becomes more and more distant, the echoes die out, and to wake any sort of feeling within herself becomes increasingly difficult. So even though the vampire is physically ageless, she is still moving steadily towards death – a death of emotions.

It can almost be said, that not only did her human body die when she was embraced, but so did her soul.

Some vampires try to pursue their lost feelings by driving themselves towards excess, causing them to commit increasingly ludicrous or atrocious acts as decades pass. Others accept the inevitable with a cold pragmatism, and discard their prior sentiments as obsolete in their current existence. Some even manage to cut all ties with any form of previous life, considering themselves to be some form of demon, which has been born into a deceased human, and apart from now inhabiting the body, they feel no kinship whatsoever with this long dead person.

They do share one thing in common for though: An awareness of not possessing that unique thing which all humans can claim as their own.

The feeling of being alive.

Which is what makes the taking life so enticing, what makes the hunger transcend simple bloodlust.

Because it is not just a tendency for murder, or some form of obsession with death.

It is in fact a longing... for the life no vampire can ever hope to gain back.

It is that which will stay with them for all time, the only thing which can be said to be truly real and not just the remnant of a waning passion; and it is a dreadful feeling of being always unfulfilled.

But by drinking fresh blood, by violating the bodies and souls of those who still hold life within themselves, this longing becomes temporarily sedated, which is why feeding turns into a highly sensual experience. But it is a short-term solution at best. The rekindled life will extinguish again within minutes, leaving nothing but the craving for yet another living soul to drain.

That is why vampires cannot see themselves as immortals, because an immortal posses a soul with life everlasting.

The soul of a vampire is already dead and damned.

It is just the rest that refused to follow.

* * *

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Book 2

Chapter 3 – Re-enter the Dark

* * *

Her name was Shannon Wilkes Wright. 

Or...

It used to be, at least.

Now she was more commonly known as 'Sandy'.

She had never found that name overly appealing, but it did posses the novelty of sharing first letter with her real one. Besides she was more comfortable using a street handle instead of her real name, since it gave her a feeling of distance towards the people she dealt with. More importantly, the name was very close to 'candy' and for some reason that worked to get guys horny.

Which made it good for business.

Hooker, whore, call-girl, prostitute, courtesans... no matter what name you decided to give it, the job didn't become any prettier. But you have to make a living somehow, and after dropping out of high school, convictions for stealing and illegal possession, an uptight family shutting her out, plus a ridiculous crush on a crackhead boyfriend (who actually got her into all the other shit in the first place), she had pretty much screwed her entire future.

Which was why she was now standing beneath a lamppost on an autumn night wearing a sleazy top and a tacky red miniskirt, hoping that the next guy would be somewhat hygienic and without a need to live out too many fetishes.

Spending over an hour in a crummy motel room, dressed up as princess Leia, spanking a semi-obese, middle aged, hogtied office employee with a large rubber paddle, definitely wasn't her idea of having fun. At times like that, she had really needed to focus on the nice Franklin notes she'd get afterwards, in order to keep going.

But she was doing a bit better now. She had a small apartment, she wasn't sharing with a bunch of heroin addicts, and she'd cleaned up her act too so she only smoked pot... and that was only once or twice a week. Quitting smack really made her realize just how much money she'd used to spend on it. As a result she had been eating more regularly and also more healthily of late. Since her body showed clear physical effects of her changed drug and food habits, making money out on the streets had also become a bit easier.

So she could save up a little cash now, meaning she could actually buy stuff, instead of having to steal it.

Perhaps she should begin to take evening courses as well... catch up on her failed high school... she'd be able to afford it soon. She still had the childhood dream of going to med school... well... she wasn't smart enough to become a doctor, but maybe a job as a nurse wasn't completely out of reach... perhaps a psychiatric nurse... God knows she'd done her part of 'therapeutic sessions'...

"Hey baby girl."

Customer in the shop.

She appraised the man approaching her, he was probably around twenty, dark skinned, Afro-American with a hint of Hispanic mixed in, dressed in baggy clothes. She couldn't tell anything about his hair, or whether he had any, since most of his head was covered by the hood from his sweater, and further hidden underneath a black beanie with a grinning skull printed on it. He looked alright, usually the weirdos were the nicely dressed ones – those who did everything to appear presentable on the outside. Besides, she still had easy access to the can of mace in her purse, if things turned rough.

"Gots some sugga fo a starvin nigga?" The guy asked in a half-rhyme.

She put her hand on her hip, flashing a rehearsed, inviting smile. "For you I do... price is a hundred... one for a head, one more if you also wanna get laid."

"Daijm! Yo ain't cheap, bitch!" In a strange way it didn't even sound like an insult, presumably this was just how he talked. He reached inside the pocket of his sweater and presented a wad of cash in a nicely packed money clip – quite a lot thicker than she had suspected judging from his appearance. Flipping through the bills, he pulled out five twenties. "You better be worth da dough."

"Best one you've ever had." Sandy replied confidently, widening her smile as the five bills were handed to her. "A blowjob I can do here in the streets, but if you change your mind and also want to fuck, you'll have to pay for a room."

"S'all good babe." He flashed a grin. "One c-note's juust right."

"OK." Normally she'd feel a bit more wary towards a new costumer, but this one seemed alright. Just a guy looking for stress relief. "Come this way."

Sandy grabbed his hand and began walking away from the larger street. Turning a couple of corners, she quickly led the way to a small alley, where there was a doorway she'd used before. The place sported a shadowy corner, which at night only was frequented by a few of the other girls, and the cops never patrolled around here. Not what you'd call a terribly private or romantic spot, but it shouldn't have to be since it was pure business anyway. "In here." She guided him towards the doorway and slowly pushed him up against the brick wall. He smelled clean and she could feel his chest muscles through the sweater – too bad he wasn't going for the whole package, he probably would have been a costumer worth getting a few extra bucks out of. She reached into her purse to fish out a condom.

"Yous got yourself one sweet fucking smell, baby."

"Really?" She stopped searching for the condom and raised an eyebrow at his statement. "Having a change of mind about getting a room?" He leaned a bit forward as if he wanted to kiss her, causing her to push him back gently. "Ah-ah... no kissing. It's in the rules, honey."

"Shiit... I wadn't plannin' no kiss, just a whiff of that smell yous got going..."

OK... so maybe the guy had a small fetish after all... but having a thing for how she smelled seemed quite harmless. Besides she might be able to turn him into a regular if she let him... as long as she kept using the perfume she was wearing now.

"**You ain't chargin' me no extra for taking a little drag?"**

Of course she wasn't.

"Alright, come here then." She tilted her head and let him bring his face closer to her bare shoulder, making sure she kept her hand inside her purse – in close proximity to the mace.

As he shut his eyes and drew in a deep breath, she was immediately struck by how intimate this gesture felt. An urge to wrap her arms around his head and cradle him suddenly welled up in her chest. The urge in itself was actually very pleasant, but the fact that she got it now, and with a costumer was really scaring her.

Before she could act upon the instinctual fear, there was a minuscule pinprick...

And then she fell.

As if the sky itself had opened up and rained down a black torrent of dreadful bliss upon her, darkened her world and cast her helplessly towards the ground. It was like the best of the best of heroin trips, one which had drained every ounce of strength she had, and sent her floating to heaven flat on her back. But she wasn't lying down. She could feel his arms – if only just barely – wrapped around her waist and shoulders. He was holding her... holding her up... keeping her away from the cold ground she was so dangerously close to plummet towards... like he was keeping her safe... like he was her...

Her...

Her savior...

She'd really wanted someone to save her... she wanted him to save her now.

There was a terrible longing, one she had tried to bury a long time ago, and it was right now waking up forcefully in her heart. She didn't want him to let go. Her arms wrapped around the back of his head, trying to pull him closer. She never wanted him to let her go.

Her hands had already pulled back his hood, and her fingers had dug under his beanie... she could feel hair... thick hair tangling soothingly in between her fingers... it felt sooo good to dig into that hair... it was probably black... deep, rich black like...

Everything.

She couldn't see anymore... couldn't hear... couldn't move...

_'. . . what . . .'_

She could scarcely think.

_'. . . are . . .'_

It was horrifying.

_'. . . you . . .'_

She could only feel.

_'. . . doing . . .'_

It was wonderful.

_'. . . to me . . .'_

Horrifyingly wonderful.

"Excuse me." A baritone voice belonging to a third person interrupted.

"Huh..." The dark skinned vampire released his fangs from the neck of the girl, and opened his eyes – no longer dark brown but almost completely black with bright yellow pupils – red liquid dripped from his mouth.

With back still towards the stranger he dropped the limp body he'd been holding. An annoyed growl escaped from his chest. "Didn't yo mama ever tell you it ain't polite to disturb during dinner?"

Pulling out a 38 caliber revolver he spun around to face whomever had interrupted him – it was a pale man, slightly over six feet tall. He was clad in what appeared to be a dark red suit jacket, that almost went to his knees, like its owner it had obviously seen better days. He wore jeans that were definitely too tight, a worn shirt, and a pair of dirty dress-style shoes with thick soles. His hair was completely purple, formed into in a braid that went to the middle of his back and tied with a yellow ribbon at the end. His eyes were gleaming scarlet, his ears were pointed like some kind of animal's, and he had three bright birthmarks on his forehead which mostly looked like someone had tattooed him with neon signs.

"Fuck kinda freakshow _you_ get outta?"

"No freakshow." The man replied calmly. "The curse just affects us differently."

"Aw man... not onna dem gawd damn bullshit-talking 'we-all-cursed-n-shit' types!" He threw his arms out. "Juz cuz you came out looking like a fuckin' fairy-tale don't mean I gots to listen to yo whinin' like a lil' bitch. Keep dat shit to yoself."

Chrono put on a speculative face, he didn't quite know how to respond to that – this vampire definitely spoke a lot differently than what he was used to.

He had spotted the feeding act from a nearby rooftop, and decided to postpone his own hunt. It was an opportunity to talk to another vampire, which hopefully allowed him to get some information. Knowing what was going on in the city was the best way to survive. Still, the guy had been in the middle of a meal: A girl in her early twenties with a rather comely face and blond hair (clearly not her natural hair color), she was scantily clad leaving no doubt about her profession as a prostitute.

She was a meal Chrono had interrupted.

He probably hadn't made the best first impression with his entry, which most likely was the reason why the guy was now waving around a handgun as if it was a toy – well, it pretty much was.

"Awright..." The beanie clad vampire, apparently not wanting to make more of a fuss about this, lowered his weapon and seemed to relax a bit. "So wadupfoo?"

"Wadupfoo?"

"Yeah, wadup... what's da score n all dat..." The red eyed showed no signs of understanding this any more than the previous question. "Daijm... yo really is a cracka ass cracka... I'm saying 'what's going on and what you want with me'?"

"Ah... I was just wondering if you could help me out a bit."

"Sure 'nuff dawg. Juz make it quick 'cuz I've popped da pop-tart, and it ain't right to keep 'em waitin'."

"Pop-tart?" Chrono asked, this 'conversation' and situation was getting entirely too stupid.

"Yeah pop-tart... tasty center once you crack 'em open... you know... juice bags, whatever..."

"Eh..." Chrono scratched his temple – 'pop-tart' must be some form of slang among vampires meaning humans. "...right."

"Hey man you even know what I's talking about? Da muthafuckin' kine if you gots to be so formal... hey... wait up... you isn't one of dem 'I juz woke up from sleeping a century away in a gawd damn casket'?"

"Matter of fact..."

"Fuck yeah... straight up relic from da past. First time I sees one of you. How long you been snoozin'?"

"Tell you the truth, I don't know actually." Chrono responded. "I went to sleep sometime in 1958, I don't remember the exact date."

"S'cool man... you ain't even been out fifty years. So whatcha up to... uhh... or... I mean... what you doing now you's awake?"

"Actually, I was looking for a bite to eat, so to say."

"Yeah, I dig... gotta be starvin' after nappin' so long. But don't go thinking you take my catch, she's one sweet ass lil' ho, and you has got ta go through me before getting ta her." He made a gesture with his thumb pointing at his chest before motioning with his head towards the unconscious girl. She was lying sprawled on the ground in a rather uncomfortably looking position, blood slowly trickled out of the wounds in her neck.

"I'm not looking for a fight."

"Piece of advice, for ya..." His mouth spread into a grin clearly showing his extended and blooded canines. "Here in da streets... every night..."

With speed too quick for the human eye to follow and supernatural agility, the hooded vampire made a somersault several feet back, and brought his right arm up to a horizontal position so he was pointing straight at Chrono with...

"...izza fight..."

An index finger.

"...ehh..."

The purple haired vampire hadn't moved an inch from his original spot, he looked calm and clearly unimpressed by the other vampire's display of acrobatics. Red eyes inspected the .38 revolver in his hand.

"Da fuck... Hey give it back!" The dark skinned tried very hard to hide the fact, that he had no idea how this pale guy had managed to snatch the gun from him without seemingly moving a single muscle. "I gots dat for my 13th birthday. When I was nuthin' but a pop-tart myself."

Chrono briefly wondered why anybody would give a gun as a birthday gift to a mere boy, but decided not to ask about it. "It isn't much of a weapon." He stated.

"It's my muthafuckin' birthday gift. Now give it back."

"You planning to shoot me with it? I wouldn't recommend it."

"Damn fool... I was juz playin' witcha'... I wadn't gonna wing ya or nuthin'..." His voice increased in pitch, as he became more agitated. The purple haired looked at him with an indifferent expression. "Hey man, why you gotta be like dat? Gimme back my piece!"

Chrono finally decided to stop tormenting the poor guy and hand back his gun. It wasn't as if the thing could do any real damage to him anyway, and obviously the dark skinned had developed quite an affection for it. It wasn't uncommon for vampires to do that – keep something around to remind them of a time before their embrace. A lethal weapon (to humans at least), was a rather strange choice in his opinion though.

The revolver was snatched back like a stolen piece of candy reclaimed by a kid. Being strapped once again, the owner seemed to calm down.

"Man... da was some wicked shit you pulled there... you sum kinda elder or sumthin'?"

"Technically..." Chrono responded with a little sardonic smile. "No."

"Now I dunno what dat shit's supposed to mean, and I don't think I wants ta know either." He looked over his shoulder at the prostitute. She had grown slightly paler. "So what you want anyway?"

"Just... a little information about the city... like who's in charge for example."

"Shit... nobody's actually running L.A. right now, but I reckon you want to talk to Da Fool in da tower. Some Ventrue got handpicked and made prince by the Cama-fuckin-rilla, he's da one controlling most of it right now. Chose da muthafucker cuz he'd been playing more dan one side o da fence up in Frisco, so dey figured we'd all turn into one big happy-ass family n shit if dey let him run de show down here."

Chrono thought about this for a moment, somebody from San Francisco... who played both sides of the fence... "Wait... you said 'da fool', are you talking about Dufaux?"

"Yeah... dat's da guy, major league playa up in northern California. Got da job offer when da last pussy-prince was wasted and left L.A. like a fuckin' bomb about to explode."

"Where can I find him?"

"He's hauled up downtown, is where da Cammies are strongest. Took da whole AT&T buildin' fo himself wit an offer dey couldn't refuse, know what I'm sayin'?" He scratched his head. "Hey, you prolly don't even know what da hell AT&T is... anyway, it's dis cross-shaped skyscraper downtown, on the corner between 6th street and Grand Avenue."

Chrono scowled. Even though he didn't remember there being a skyscraper, he knew that address quite well. Fate obviously had a pesky sense of irony. "I should go pay him a visit."

"Better watch yo ass around him, word is he's a sly muthafucka."

"I will," Chrono said, wondering what his best course of action would be. "Thanks for the help."

"Yeah, no prob dawg."

(Lux Aerterna (Theme from Requiem for a dream, Paul Oakenfold remix):

youtube. com/ watch? v 4gb56OcUSTM)

As the purple haired began walking away the dark skinned vampire turned his eyes towards the blonde girl who was still lying unconscious on the ground. "Now baby..." He whispered as the yellow in his pupils lit up again and the irises turned black. "...where were we?" He knelt down, lifted her into his arms, and licked his lips expectantly. An ethereal breath escaped through his mouth before his teeth once again plunged deeply into her throat. The girl uttered a tiny gasp, as the slender spikes boring into her throat made her unconscious body react in shock.

"You know..." Chrono said having turned around again. He could sense that the girl's heartbeat and breathing were becoming dangerously weak. "...you're not supposed to kill while feeding."

"Da fuck..." The vampire realeased his hold, he was clearly annoyed. "You da gawd damn masquerade vi-o-la-tion poh-leez now? Listen, I gots dis shit covered. Dis'll be nuthin' but 'nuther ho-gone-missin, nobody's gonna give a fuck, so stop being a bitch about it and get yo ass outta here."

Chrono looked at the unconscious prostitute held in the arms of her soon to be murderer.

A young girl who truly had been at the wrong place at the wrong time tonight.

A young girl who was completely helpless right now.

A young girl who was about to die.

Unless he did something.

But...

He didn't care.

She was prey.

Without saying a word Chrono turned around again and began walking away, leaving the other to finish his meal, this time without looking back. There was probably a time where he would have done something to prevent this, a time where he would have felt guilty for not stepping in to save an innocent.

That was a long time ago.

There were so many humans here, so much prey in this city... one less really wouldn't make a difference. Besides, they didn't care about all the animals being killed in order to provide them with food – how could he be expected to care about whether they lost their lives for the very same reason? He wasn't one of them, he had no kinship with them anymore, and trying to empathize with something he was not...

Too much effort for no reason.

He was a vampire.

And the girl back there.

She was just another human with no name.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Downtown Los Angeles was busy.

Streets were crowded with people going everywhere and nowhere.

Larger roads were literally filled with cars both private and for hire.

Some were bringing people home from a late dinner or movie.

Others taking party-goers out into the bustling nightlife.

Some were simply cruising around with no apparent goal in mind.

The voice of the streets assaulted the ears with shouts, laughs, pulsing beats, car horns and the ever so frequent siren.

Switching traffic lights, blinking neon signs, head- and taillights brightened the night.

All of it blended together into an all encompassing urban symphony of ordered chaos.

Going higher up above ground the sounds and lights became muddled.

Reaching the rooftops, the noise had become so distant that it almost seemed quiet, and the artificial lights from below no longer outmatched the pale glow of the nearly full moon.

The towers of the skyline stood dark and foreboding against the sky, partially blocking out the moon hanging low in the horizon, and if one looked closely one might have seen the shadow moving from the top of one building to another.

'Thud'.

The muted sound of Chrono's foot landing on concrete was followed by a series of nearly inaudible footsteps as he ran across the rooftop. He made a small jump with both legs, his feet connecting with the edge of the roof for a fraction of a second, before his legs propelled him across the street, upwards to the next higher building.

His senses were saturated with the sounds and smells from below.

He caught the metal rail at the edge of the roof, flipped himself up and over the safety barrier in a somersault motion, and continued moving speedily towards the next edge. The supernatural parkour run had kept picking up momentum with each step, every jump had taken him from one building to a subsequent higher one in a fluent trek towards the high-rises downtown.

The next one was maybe 100 feet higher than this – too high for a single jump to scale. That didn't cause him to slow down, and he took off from the metal railing, shooting straight into the face of the building.

He collided almost silently with the wall and dug his claws into it, making them act as improvised climbing spikes. Repeatedly driving claws into stone, he swiftly made his way upwards, and could soon look over yet another rooftop. A single powerful leap sent him to the other edge of the building, where he landed on the concrete wall intended to keep people from accidentally falling off.

He knelt down, right hand on his knee. The streets assaulted him mercilessly with their fragrance of blood – a promise of intense physical satisfaction which mixed together with the sickening feeling the memory this place gave him. He clenched his fist, forcing himself to fight the conflicting emotions tearing at his insides.

The corner between the two streets was no longer occupied by the Savoy hotel. Instead a 600 ft tall skyscraper had taken its place. It was shaped like a cross, with a massive concrete slab on its north side running the entire height of the building – looming before him like an immense stake piercing through the heart of the earth. It wasn't the tallest building, being dwarfed by several other mastodons of glass steel and stone. However, to his senses it was by far the most intimidating.

It was filled with activity... kindred activity.

Chrono looked over the edge... the ground was a few hundred feet away. That would definitely create too much of a ruckus. Towards another side was a smaller street, which didn't seem so heavily trafficked.

A jump sent him towards the building on the other side of the street. He plummeted for a few seconds, before allowing his fall to break on a windowsill, from which his legs sent him towards the other side of the road again. After a few leaps back and forth between the two walls he landed silently on the ground, having timed it so nobody was in the vicinity.

Nobody actually saw the strange man coming down from the sky.

Chrono straightened his clothes, and began walking out onto the Grand Avenue, towards the skyscraper known as 611 Place... or as a huge luminescent sign plastered on the top of the enormous concrete slab read: 'Carmille Tower' – cute... hiding in plain sight.

He had already made up his mind about how to go about this. Given the Camarilla's extensive use of both the stealthy Nosferatus and the perceptive and mysterious Tremere it was not only plausible but also highly likely that they knew he was awake and on his way to say hello.

Knowing that Dufaux was prince, it was a sure bet.

Which meant that he might as well introduce himself the most illogical way imaginable – through the front door. It could be considered suicidal, but if they wanted him dead, they would succeed soon enough, so he might as well just confront them head on now.

A few people turned their heads when he walked past them, quite a lot fewer than he had suspected though.

The door to the building was fairly large and made of darkened glass. Two half-globes, apparently of the same material, were situated at either side of the door, hidden inside each globe was some form of turnable electronic device with a lens that kept pointing at him.

To his surprise the doors began sliding away, welcoming him inside before he even reached them... now that... was something new.

Besides he had thought they would be locked.

The doors led into a little entry room which had a rather strange rectangular metal archway he had to go through, there were also two more half-globes made out of that dark glass in here. Chrono realized they probably were some form of surveillance device. Another set of doors slid aside before he found himself completely inside a large lobby. There were elevators on both right and left side, escalators going up in the far end, and in the center a counter. Behind it sat a lone security officer, eying him more than just a bit warily.

"I'm here to see Dufaux."

"Do you have an appointment?" The man responded in an even voice.

The purple haired went further towards the counter. "Tell him that Chrono is here, please. I'm sure he will know who I am."

The security officer acknowledged with a little nod before speaking into a microphone fastened to his shirt. "There's someone here to see Mr. Dufaux. He says his name is Chrono."

A skeptical expression rose in Chrono's face as he tried to pick up the response the man got from the plug in his ear, but he didn't manage to get more than 'on our way'. The man cleared his throat before saying. "Mr. Dufaux has agreed to see you. If you wait here you will be led up shortly." There was the sound of elevators moving.

Something wasn't quite right here, it was going too easy, everything considered. His eyes scrutinized the security officer. The man seemed to become increasingly uncomfortable as seconds passed.

Then he noticed a little drop of sweat trickling down from his temple... fear

In that instant Chrono jumped over the counter. The guard never realized what happened before his gun was thrown away, and he was held off the ground by a single hand having grabbed a hold of his belt – that was when he uttered a startled yelp.

"**Keep still, and your limbs will stay intact!"** Chrono hissed.

The man immediately complied, however uncomfortable it was to be held in his belt with his head dangling towards the ground, he really, really liked his arms and legs.

"Now let's say hello to the welcoming committee."

'DING!'

Immediately after the ringing sound, four elevator doors opened simultaneously and around two dozen goons armed with assault rifles stormed out – all Kindred. Seeing the security officer being held upside down by a purple haired vampire blotting elongated teeth, they came to a sudden halt.

'Clickclicklicklicklickclick..."

"The first one to shoot." Chrono stated coolly as every gun in the room came to point at him. "Will become my next shield."

It wasn't a bluff – he fully intended to follow through if any trigger was pulled. The premonition of being the next in the line of fire would most likely deter anybody from taking the first shot, since the unliving's fear of final death was so strong – one who does not succumb to death easily, was often very scared of it. He needed to play on that fear, since it was doubtful that he could take them all out with his current blood reserve.

Chrono could feel how the nauseous guard, he was holding, began to tremble. Hopefully he wasn't about to piss himself... or hurl.

"Put him down, and give yourself up!" One of the riflemen shouted, his trigger finger quivering. "You will not be harmed."

"Drop the guns, first. I do not wish to kill anybody, merely to see Dufaux."

The standstill was interrupted when the front line of Kindred was split in two as a large figure wearing a dark pinstriped suit made his way through... or rather, he was a mountain of a man casually pushing everybody else aside. He had small eyes, an upwardly curved nose and head as bald and shiny as a polished bowling ball.

Glancing left and right, he motioned with his hand for everyone to lower their rifle.

Chrono smirked. "Nice to see you Carl. Does your boss have a minute to spare?"

The huge Gangrel bodyguard took a step forward and pointed towards an open elevator with a grunt. He made another wordless gesture pointing at the terrified security guard still in Chrono's possession, afterwards he pointed to the ground.

Chrono looked around at the armed goons surrounding him. They had all lowered their weapons, and were silently awaiting his move. Without barrels aiming directly at him, his chances to avoid bullets would be much greater, even if they still did intend to shoot him. He might as well release the whimpering guard now. The man scurried away on all four as soon as he hit the floor – nobody made any hostile movements.

Carl again pointed at the elevator and began to walk towards it, Chrono followed the giant bodyguard inside the elevator, everyone's eyes glued upon him. Apparently nobody else was allowed with them, and the Gangrel pushed a button marked '42' before standing cross-armed at the back of the elevator with eyes fixed on Chrono.

It all seemed fairly surreal that he was here, most of the Kindred downstairs would probably want nothing more than taking his head and claiming the honor for it – the extent of his crimes towards the society should be enough to grant his bane the favor of several elders from the old world. But if the future of Los Angeles' power structure truly was as unpredictable as that dark-skinned vampire had expressed earlier, it was a stroke of luck for him – even more that Dufaux was prince. However much resentment he had for the vampire lord's calculating persona and his obvious part in Maggie's...

Dammit!

The fiery anger rose within him again, his blood beginning to _scream_...

Chrono ground his teeth together... his canines ached... they longed for blood... _it_ longed for blood...

Inside the most vile pits of his heart, he could feel it howling.

It wanted to get to Dufaux, blame him for everything and make him _pay_. It wanted to blame his mute bodyguard, his incompentent henchmen. It wanted to blame the entire worthless piece-of-shit Camarilla. It wanted to blame everyone else.

It wanted to blame them so it could drown itself in their blood.

Chrono's eyes closed, his entire frame quivered as the elevator continued upwards.

_He_ wanted to blame...

Himself.

His actions towards her... towards her memory after her final death... to think how he would appear in her eyes... someone who was more malignant than a cannibal murderer, more vicious than a rabid dog... one who had let the beast inside rule... it made him ill... he knew her thoughts...

"_He deserved to be put down . . ."_

The elevator slowed down as they approached the top.

_'And so do I . . .'_

The guilt was now welling up inside him again, that sinking feeling of self-loathing which had become his trusty companion ever since that night in Gwynedd months after her death. The feeling that clawed mercilessly at his exposed self, tied his heart up in barbed wire and pulled tight.

The feeling that ate his soul away.

He welcomed it – just like the opening elevator doors welcomed him to the 42nd floor.

Because the feeling ate the rage as well. Choked it with its smothering sickness. It was the only way... the only way he knew to keep the darkness inside from pouring out and defiling everything she had treasured. It was his sole means of self-control, and only by emotionally torturing himself could he keep the beast from taking over again.

(J. S. Bach – Air:

youtube. com/ watch? v CyLo9-Voy5s)

"_But . . . doesn't it hurt?"_

Chrono's eyes shot open again at the sound of a young girl's voice ringing through his mind, asking him a sincere and very concerned question earlier that evening.

He realized he was in a sort of sky lobby now, having barely noticed them leaving the elevator. A soft piece of classical music floated through the air here, coming from hidden speakers all around them, Chrono recognized it as Bach.

He followed the body guard, and a little sad smile graced his lips when he let his right hand touch his left sleeve. Underneath the cloth there was a nasty looking burn scar.

Rosette had asked about that. She had been genuinely worried that the mark on his arm was bringing him pain.

_'Yes . . . yes it does hurt.'_

But the pain was his choice, just as it was his choice that he still possessed the visible mark. It was there to remind him of his sins towards his sire. Because this pain was his only weapon against the darkness within himself.

As Carl led the way towards a large set of double doors, Chrono let his mind be carried back to earlier this evening – the first time since then where he had known an inkling of peace, where there had been no need to fight off hunger or anger. They had given him such a strange sensation of calm with their smiles and enthusiasm... and her smell.

The memory itself was enough right now, and it strengthened his resolve.

The Gangrel opened the doors reveling a huge and extravagantly beautiful office. Its walls were decorated with paintings and sculptures were arranged along the edges. The furnishing was rich, ample to welcome a fair amount of visitors in comfortable armchairs surrounding a large round coffee table – a fully stocked bar cabinet was there to help extend courtesies towards human business associates. In the other end of the room, Chrono recognized an aesthetically pleasing ebony desk and the figure standing behind it looking over the city through an immense window.

A very crafty Kindred indeed. The reason why Chrono was here.

The doors closed, leaving Chrono in the room alone with Dufaux. In here the music continued playing from speakers he could not see.

"Beautiful view, don't you think?" The dark haired said still looking out the window. "Such a buzzing beehive of lives, conflicts and ambitions melted together in a city that never truly sleeps." His hand rummaged through his beard. "And to think that somewhere down there, you did sleep, keeping yourself hidden from the eyes and senses of everyone – amazing. I sincerely believed you had perished all those years ago. Imagine my surprise when I was told you were still alive."

"I'm not." Chrono stated flatly as he approached the large desk.

Dufaux gave a little chuckle as he turned to face his visitor. "Quite the cynic though. Do sit down."

Chrono chose a leather chair in front of the desk, and took a seat. "You know your guards are a bit jumpy... and trigger-happy."

"Yes, I apologize of course for any ill behavior you may have been exposed to. I gave instructions to stay on guard, but also not to show signs of aggression unless you did. It's difficult to get decent help these days." Dufaux sat down opposite of Chrono. "I must say that you look... haggard. Care for a drink?"

"I would."

"Very well."

Almost at the very same moment – seemingly without having received an order – a girl in her late teens entered with a single and quite large red wine glass almost filled to the brim with blood. Chrono could hear the girl's heartbeat even from here, and his instincts begged him to jump up and drain every last drop of liquid from her. As she placed down the glass in front of him, he noticed the glimmer of vampirism in her aura, which clearly gave away her non-human nature. Ghoul – most likely Dufaux's.

"Wait." Chrono stopped her as she turned to leave. "No need to go twice." He raised the glass to his lips and began to drink greedily. The blood wasn't nearly as fulfilling as that taken directly from a human vein, but it was still potent.

Very potent.

He emptied the glass in seconds.

Immediately the liquid fire spread through his body, setting muscles previously trapped in rigor mortis free again, soaking his dry and cold inner self in a stream of life. The sweet renewing feeling of him waking up from the dead... Chrono could not fight the urge to close his eyes and lean his head back with a hiss.

"I see it was to your liking." Dufaux commented. "Of course, this _is_ vitae of extremely high quality, from a most exquisite source."

The purple haired opened his eyes again. Dufaux regarded him with casual amusement. The young girl was quite literally ogling the vampire lord and... blushing...

Without a doubt she was his ghoul...

When she retrieved the glass, Chrono saw the vague sign of a previously cut open left wrist in the process of healing. "Thank you."

She didn't respond, but nodded slightly in acknowledgment of Chrono's appreciation. Clearly she would much rather hear those words from her master, but such were ghouls – hopelessly blinded towards anybody else.

After the girl had left with the glass Dufaux spoke. "So... shall we get down to business, now that you don't look like you've just emerged from the grave anymore?"

"Right..." Chrono said. He did feel a lot better. Presumably his features had softened and a bit of color had also found its way to his skin. "I'll say it as it is. I want you to stop the hunt."

Dufaux smiled. "I presumed as much. Now, the funny thing is that many – like me – believed you dead and thus the hunt was eventually called off a long time ago... or at least given up. The fact that you are actually alive, would normally not be enough to let it begin again so many years afterwards." Chrono raised an eyebrow. "However, given the nature of your actions, I can imagine it would do so. When the news of your existence reach the old world, that is. Those who have lived for centuries usually have quite good memories as well."

"I know that. But I also know that you, as prince, have the power to give asylum."

Dufaux leaned back lazily. "Which requires me to vouch for someone, who is considered a loose cannon, why would I do that?"

"Giving asylum is not a permanent solution." Chrono argued. "It doesn't erase the past, and it can be withdrawn at your leisure again. I would only be safe from the blood hunt as long you see fit and unless you notify other princes that I am allowed travel to their domains, I only have asylum within the borders of yours. I know I might be able to escape or fight off the hunt for a while, I believe I could avoid it by going into torpor again, but if I stay awake I will without a doubt be given final death eventually."

"I see you've read up on some homework."

Chrono leaned forward, and looked straight at the elder vampire in front of him. "I'm not interested in final death, I'm not interested in going to sleep again, and neither am I interested in having to worry about Kindred hunting me. You need no probable cause to take away a granted asylum nor to have me executed, but you know what I am capable of, and in the interest of my own existence I will prove that I am an asset." It was a blow to his self esteem and his sense of independence, but he believed he had found reasons to survive, and if being an unquestioning servant of the Camarilla was the price he had to pay, then he would pay it for as long as those reasons existed.

The tall vampire stroked his beard a few times before saying. "Would you care to go for a stroll?"

"I would."

Dufaux rose to his feet and went towards the window behind him, Chrono rose from his chair as well. All of a sudden a whole 4 by 8 feet section of the it slid aside, creating a doorway out into the air. The wind howled slightly, but it was still fairly calm since the office was situated near one of the inner corners of the cross-shaped building. "I had this installed, when I moved in. Not exactly in accordance with building regulations and safety, but it saves me the time of taking the elevator down." He took a step forward into the open air and plummeted towards the ground.

Chrono looked at the falling figure for a second before following the vampire lord.

As he began falling, he cast a glance back up at the rapidly receding top floor, and noticed how the glass slid back in place just after he had stepped out of the window. The air quickly began to howl in his ears as he dropped towards the ground, his speed approaching terminal velocity. The floors of the building shooting towards the sky, as the roof of the building's base stormed towards him. He hoped Dufaux knew what he was doing since somebody dropping roughly 600 feet, and landing unscathed and upright, was bound to arouse suspicion if it was seen.

'THUD!'

Leaves, dust and dirt blew upwards at his impact, but the sound of his feet connecting with the roof was far softer than what would have been expected. His knees bent into right angles, as the shock of the landing traveled through his body – his blood immediately strengthening the strained parts of his skeleton. Now that was a trick no fledgling could do. Dufaux was waiting at the edge of the roof where there was a set of stairs down.

"You must have been doing fairly well..." Chrono commented as he approached the prince. "...to have been able to get a hold of this building."

"Well, although I was the primary reason why it became obtainable, the building itself is considered the property of the Camarilla. I do make sure we have a believable front, however."

"And what front is that."

"I am the CEO of what's called the Carmille group. We deal in security, surveillance, and the safety of people and property, these past two years it's become quite a lucrative business really. A lot of the security personnel we lease out are in fact ghouls... needless to say they almost always do a superb job, both in their designated tasks and in keeping recordings and observations sensitive to the masquerade secret from the kine."

"A security company pretending to protect humans while manipulating material to keep them in the dark..." Chrono said after they had made their way to the street in front of the building. "...right in the spirit of the Camarilla – no wonder you were given the title of prince. I suppose it means you finally chose a side as well."

"I would rather say, that I merely accepted a favorable offer." Dufaux responded as they began walking down the busy street of Grand Avenue.

"But, what about the Anarchs? They can't be too happy about it. You were considered a Baron."

"The Anarchs have a very loose structure. Apart from wanting to exist outside the influence of the Camarilla, they do not have a lot of common ground – it is the way they like it best. While their overall reaction towards yet another Prince has been slightly hostile, individual opinions have been quite varied. Some wish another revolt before they are all 'assimilated', others believe that the time has come to cooperate for the sake of keeping the peace."

"You've been fighting back and forth for a long time here." Chrono frowned. "I can imagine some are starting to get tired of it, I could sense that already back then."

"Yes, I believe we can agree that it has been going on too long, but as you already know the rulers of the old world are quite determined to stay in control."

"Yeah... they go to... great lengths..."

Dufaux eyed his newly acquired vassal shortly, he seemed lost in thought. "I do not know if you want to hear this. But, I am aware of what happened to your late sire."

Chrono immediately stopped in his tracks. "What?"

Dufaux stopped as well. "I know what the Prince of Wales did, I discovered this after a new one was instated and a massive Blood Hunt was called on you – even though we were never given any real information, it was fairly simple to put two and two together. I can understand why you became upset, although your actions were quite... radical."

Red eyes locked on the ground... he doubted that Dufaux knew everything.

The Prince scratched his chin and began moving onwards. "But regardless of what you may or may not have committed, I am willing to let the past stay the past and merely let you know, that I am pleased you wish to join us. Especially in the light of recent events."

Chrono forced the past out of his thoughts and began walking again, catching up with the slowly walking Prince, and thankful for the change of subject. "Recent events? What's happened?"

"The Sabbat happened." Dufaux's eyes turned dark. "After the murder of the last L.A. Prince, the Camarilla here was weakened, and the Anarchs seemed about to drive them back. However seemingly out of nowhere, the Sabbat struck several prominent Anarch properties in Hollywood and Santa Monica. They quite literally swarmed them with superior numbers. We managed to manipulate the media into relaying the incidents as large scale gang wars... not entirely untrue."

"That sounds fairly organized, how did the Sabbat manage to do that? They've never been able to gain any real power here."

"Our fault actually... when the Camarilla made an aggressive move towards reclaiming control from the Anarchs, the Sabbat simply went and populated the poorer areas, embracing street thugs, homeless and people of lower social status systematically. There was never any single large occurrence though, rather a spread out series of seemingly unrelated cases throughout the Afro-American and Hispanic communities, and even though lots of them don't make it through their first nights, those who do turn into killing machines completely loyal to the sect. Both Camarilla and Anarchs were too busy struggling for the financially and culturally influential areas to notice this growing threat, and when the Anarchs were struck, they were still recovering from their previous fight against us."

"Have they gained any sort of foothold here?" The question was laced with very genuine concern, the idea of people getting randomly embraced in the streets and turned into mindless shock troops in some form of twisted crusade wasn't good news at all. He pictured Rosette carrying Josh home on her back – he really hoped they had reached the orphanage safely.

"It's very strange actually." Dufaux said as his hand rummaged through his beard again. "Normally they would set up some sort of money-making or weapon-shipping operation, in order to launch large scale attacks against us. Of course these operations are usually foiled in their start-up phase since they are hardly ever subtle. This time it would seem that they merely stick to embracing kine and turn them into disposable troops, but apart from their initial strike against the Anarch community they haven't made any moves directly towards us Kindred. They seem to be just roaming around causing random havoc."

Crimson eyes began darting left and right, scanning the other figures walking in the street. "You mean to say that they're all over the city?" His voice sounded alarmed now.

"No," Dufaux answered. "Downtown and West are quite strictly monitored, and mostly under our control. The North is more or less Anarch territory, a lot of east too. South Central is where the Sabbat have the strongest hold, that place can turn into a regular war zone at night, and I wouldn't recommend taking this kind of evening stroll there, unless you are ready to administer a few final deaths."

Chrono growled. "Perhaps I should..." For some reason he couldn't get the picture of two blond kids being attacked by a frenzied pack of Sabbats out of his mind, and it was already causing his vision to color crimson.

"Eager are we..." Dufaux mused, pulling out a tiny black hair from his chin. "...I won't stop you if you wish to, but without finding any hideout, you would most likely not accomplish anything but slay a couple of newly embraced. As I said they have to our knowledge not made any large scale strongholds, and only been temporarily hauled up in small scattered havens. Their coteries move around all the time as numerous independent guerrilla groups, making any sort of major strike difficult. We need to get to some form of leader in order to be really successful, that is if they even have any."

"Hmm..." Chrono slowed down his pace a bit. "Someone has to know something..." His reasons for serving the Camarilla had just been upped from concerning his own existence, to the life of the two kids as well – he could protect them from these beasts of the night... he wanted to.

"You seem bent on solving this problem as well..." Reaching an intersection he came to a stop. "...that is good. It is what I would ask you to do. You can report back to me when you have discovered anything, although you should feed first."

Chrono agreed, while the drink he had gotten up in the vampire lord's office certainly had hit a dry spot, it was nowhere near enough. He needed the blood directly from a living human, and the bustling nightlife seemed capable of providing plenty.

Dufaux reached inside his his suit jacket, and retrieved a wallet. He opened it and pulled out a couple of 100-dollar bills. "This should help you acquire a change of clothes and something to drink, I would advise you to get the first before the second, considering the way you will probably go about it."

Chrono took the bills and pocketed them. "Thanks. I'll get on it."

"A little advise about feeding." Dufaux said as Chrono began to walk. "Young people today have a tendency of using their bodies for... experimentation. It is quite likely that more than just blood flows through their veins – and I'm not just talking about alcohol. If you don't want any other substances inside you, you should pay close attention to the smell of your prey."

"I'll remember that." Chrono said, looking over his shoulder as he crossed the street. "Thanks again."

"You are most welcome." Dufaux replied with a little smile. He stood for a while glancing at his newest asset disappearing into the night.

"Well, well. The Prince of fucking charity. You just handed him several hundred dollars for nothing." A voice from the shadows hissed. "You think you can trust this guy? He's not only killed a fucking Prince but also who knows how many Primogens."

"Calm down Julio." Dufaux responded to the hidden figure. "I know what he has done, I don't know if I can trust him, but frankly I don't care."

"_You..._ don't care?" The voice sneered back.

"No I don't." Dufaux replied evenly. "He seems to have found a reason to exist... which is interesting."

"You want to know what it is?"

"I do. Keep an eye on him and figure out what it is. We need to make sure that reason stays intact, because as long as that reason exists _he_ will keep striving to exist, meaning he will do as I say." The noble Kindred turned around and began to walk back slowly.

"Of course my Prince..." The voice from the dark mocked. "... but you're not fooling me, you don't want him to do as you say... you want him to do whatever that good-for-nothing Malkavian was babbling about." The tone increased slightly, it's owner was clearly frustrated by the Prince's calmness. "Listen, that guy was a complete whack-job."

"Indeed he was." Dufaux smiled. "But you should never underestimate the wisdom that can be extracted from the mind of a mad."

"Yeah... whatever. But even though Chrono's back, you're still missing one thing. His sire is toast, and she isn't likely to pop up again anytime ever."

The vampire lord stopped briefly, contemplating. "Actually, I do not think Maggie was _her_." He turned around to face the shadow near the building. "Julio, I am certain, that Chrono is the _only_ purple-haired man with red eyes in the world." His lips curled into a smile. "Just as I am certain, that the world contains more than one blue-eyed blonde."

* * *

And there we go... finally. 

I hope I got the 'lingo' of the black vampire in the beginning right. I actually had a bit of fun writing that, but I don't know whether it came out right or wrong. He could reappear later, I haven't quite figured that out yet, but if you have some comments about him it would be nice to help me decide whether or not he should.

And I've never been inside the '611 place' skyscraper... inside descriptions are completely fictional.

Now you'd think that since I didnt' manage to write a short chapter after all, that I'd just go ahead and end it now (plus of course beg for 128.4½ reviews for the next update), but as fate would have it Rosette had some frustrations she wanted to get out (it's slightly spoilerish... but who the hell cares).

Rosette: I can't BELIEVE THIS!!!

Chrno: What's wrong?

Rosette: What's wrong? What's _Wrong_?!? WHAT'S WRONG?!?

Chrno: Uhm...

Rosette: LOOK AT ME!!!

Chrno: Yeah...?

Rosette: I'm a KID! I've waited 10 friggin' chapters to get into this story and then the guy makes me A GOD DAMN KID!!!

Chrno: Well... uhm...

Rosette: Can't you say anything?!?

Chrno: I... ah... at least you're a cute kid...

Rosette: WHAT THE HELL?!? WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!?

Chrno: Geez... alright... I take it back... you're nowhere near cute...

Rosette: WHAT?!?

Chrno: Oh man...

Rosette: Has your brain turned to turkey stuffing recently? (Tries to punch Chrno but arm too short) Get over here so I can hit you! (Keeps punching air, unable to get within reach to hit Chrno) GET YOUR PALM OFF MY FOREHEAD!!!

Chrno: No way, this is fun.

Rosette: Hey? How come you're big?

Chrno: Dunno, didn't notice how I got big. I just was at the beginning of the chapter.

Rosette: (Sulking) It's not fair.

Chrno: Hey cheer up, perhaps something good happens next chapter, let's see... (Reads coffee-stained papers)

Rosette: What's that.

Chrno: Just the script for next week's... uh next month's... uh... the next episode.

Rosette: No way! You stole it from the Author? Cool! What does it say?

Chrno: Wow! He really jumps ahead in time here... you're a teenager now.

Rosette YES!!! Lemme see! (Jumping enthusiastically reaching for the papers)

Chrno: And you're jealous...

Rosette: Jealous? (Stops jumping)

Chrno: Because... I'm kissing Mary.

Rosette: Mary? Blondie Mary? Happy-go-lucky-with-an-IQ-of-fifty Mary? Why the hell are you kissing HER?!? Gimme that!

Chrno: Hey...

Rosette: (Reads intently) What the? You're not Kissing Mary. You're Kissing Mary MAGDALENE!!! What the hell? She's dead! (Turns to front page, proceeds to smack Chrno with the papers) You IDIOT!

Chrno: Au... what?

Rosette: This isn't the next episode for this one... it's the next episode for 'Antichrist' you big jerk! Can't you do anything right?

Chrno: Well excuse me for not having time enough to check that I snatched the right script. I'll make sure to remember that next time I risk my entire existence by stealing from the author.

Rosette: (reluctant) Alright... sorry...

Chrno: It's ok, I'm used to it by now.

Rosette: (pouting) I'm probably still gonna be a kid in this one... it's not fair...

Chrno: Hmm...

Rosette: And in the other one you're now kissing HER? What about ME?!?

Chrno: Can I see that script again?

Rosette: Why?

Chrno: Well... 'Antichrist' is 'M' rated too, so I was curious if I get further than just kissing...

Rosette: CHRNO!!!


	14. 2,4: Blood Slaves

A/N:

Yeah, I know I have a few other story-projects floating around, and I know they have been in need of an update for some time now, but I just seem to be more inspired to write this one at the moment, hope you can live with that. This chapter does steal quite a bit of inspiration from the game VTM:Bloodlines... bit cheap perhaps, but I did enjoy that game and couldn't resist incorporating stuff mimicking things that happened in it – I guess it won't matter if you're not familiar with said game.

Disclaimer: The tyrannical arch-demon **Koppee Ra'itt** has made its judgment and decreed that I am not worthy to receive any monetary benefit for this. (Sigh)

Nothing much else to say, except thanks for the encouraging comments and please enjoy.

* * *

Music: Three pieces, and one of them even has two different choices for listening ;). The Chiasm track was one I encountered for the first time in the previously mentioned game, making it sorta stolen from there too... I just like how it fits into the mood and setting. I know I said that rap would be an unlikely candidate for music in this story, and the Tupac track might seem out of place, but since it's an instrumental version I think it's actually alright here. 

Chiasm – isolated:

myspace. com/ chiasm

or

youtube. com/ watch? v p6i-od5222c

W.A. Mozart - Confutatis:

youtube. com/ watch? v AxwiLowC44I

Tupac Shakur – Runnin' (Instrumental)

youtube. com/ watch? v M9s9FTQXZL8)

Remember to select the song from the player if going to the myspace profile, and/or insert the equality sign after the 'v' in the youtube links.

* * *

Vampires rule the night – that is an indisputable fact. 

There is quite simply no other creature in existence which posses the same degree of power, cunning and ruthlessness, making vampires the supreme beings on the earth from the sun sets until it rises again.

But as powerful as they are during the night, just as powerless are they under the light of day. Not only does the rays of the sun burn their unholy bodies to ash within the span of seconds, but the mere presence of the light in the sky drains them of all their strength, sending them into a forced sleep, which no vampire can resist for long.

Vampires who wish to extend their power to the day as well, cannot rely on themselves alone.

So they create ghouls.

Ghouls are 'made' from humans, and are physiologically not much different from them: They eat, sleep, go to the bathroom etc. What separates them from their mortal kind is that they are fed the blood of the undying. This blood lets them taste the nature of the supernatural... the strength... the immortality... the hunger.

Though typically not as strong as full fledged vampires, the powers of ghouls are still vastly superior to that of mortals, and those serving the strong Elders can even surpass lesser vampires in terms of abilities. More importantly, since they are still essentially human, they are equally strong whether they walk under the sun or the moon.

Humans who drink from vampires become bound by the blood – a three-part journey down a path from which they cannot turn away.

The first drink causes the vampire blood to fuse with their human body, augmenting their physical might, their resilience and their senses. An inexplicable attraction will also build up in their heart, a feeling drawing them towards the vampire. Often their thoughts will involuntarily drift towards their new master – especially during that person's absence.

The second drink will grant even greater powers, as well as a deeper emotional attachment. The human will actively try to seek out the vampire, feeling happy when the master is happy, feeling sad when the master is sad, and feeling uncomfortable when the master is not around.

The third is what seals the pact. Their strength has now reached the peak of what the vampire's blood can grant, without them being fully embraced. The bond now overshadows everything else, their loyalty is unquestioning, and any order short of committing suicide will be obeyed. Even so, they will lay down their life without hesitation, if the sacrifice will save the master.

This feeling is utterly indistinguishable from overwhelming, unconditional love.

Their body now also shares the unliving's need for blood, although not the blood of mortals, but that of immortals instead. Since they are essentially human, they still require food and air to survive, making the addiction to blood purely psychological in nature. However, any ghoul who goes without being fed, will feel a deepening void eating them from inside. In the end the ghoul becomes completely catatonic, and withdraws into the memories of a master who is no longer there.

Thus what was once a human being, is now no more than a slave bound by the blood of a vampire, and the only thing capable of breaking these emotional shackles, is the final death of the master.

The advantages of cultivating ghouls are hard to disregard, and many vampires, both Kindred and non-Kindred, do so to create obedient and powerful servants who will never ask for anything more than to be able to please.

The oldest and most common function was to guard the master during sleep, possibly stave off hunters who had divined the location of the haven.

As human civilization expanded and advanced, having daytime agents became increasingly beneficial. Vampires now need people to keep track of businesses, stock markets or events requiring urgent action... perhaps even tape a soccer match, or bring home innocent humans to save the time going hunting.

Even rarer, some vampires, seeking a form of comfort in their undead existence, might create a ghoul as a companion for themselves – somebody who will always be there. But such a companionship is entirely based on falsehood and make-believe, a delusional imitation of a genuine friendship.

Because humans who become ghouls through the bond of blood lose every bit of their individuality.

While not being controlled directly, they are still nothing more than the extension of the vampire's own will. They posses no true wants of their own, they will never question, never criticize, and their thoughts are entirely consumed by gaining the master's praise and appreciation.

Needless to say, the company of a ghoul can, like so many other things in the world of darkness, only serve as a temporary distraction to the gloom and loneliness that haunts the existence of every vampire.

* * *

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Book 2

Chapter 4 – Blood Slaves

* * *

It wasn't bad actually, not bad looking, comfortable even. 

Chrono looked down himself, and the much needed change of clothes he had acquired.

He was wearing a pair of black 'sneakers', as the guy had called the shoes, some fairly well-decorated jeans which hung low at the waist without falling down, and a loose long-sleeved red satin dress shirt with a couple of Japanese letters splattered across it.

And then of course a trench coat. In terms of regular clothing, it was the closest thing to a cape there was, and being a vampire _did_ entitle the wearing of one. The coat was made of fairly tough leather, and would probably offer slight protection against handguns and knives, while still allowing freedom of movement. The length and shape of the garment would even permit him to carry around the falcata without it being overly noticeable. And he liked the color too – the color of blood.

For some reason, he had always liked that color, even before becoming a vampire.

It had set him back a couple hundred dollars, but it was money well spent, bringing his exterior appearance up to date – a newsstand had revealed that to be the 4th of October 2003.

He had been sleeping almost 45 years.

His new clothes came from an overweight black-market sales guy calling himself 'Fat Larry', who's 'beednez' was to sell (obviously stolen) stuff out of the back of his van. Chrono had been fairly impressed with the amount of goods crammed in there, and the guy had definitely been happy with the purple haired's patronage. He'd even made a sales speech about how 'the streets ain't a safe place after 10 o'clock but this merchandise were better protection than being inside the personal limo of the pope himself' – afterwards he had tried to sell both a 9mm submachinegun and a 41 caliber semi-automatic. When Chrono politely said no, he had continued trying his luck with a rather large butterfly knife and a police baton, even a flak jacket which looked suspiciously 'official'.

Chrono had declined all of it, settling for just the change of clothes, before bidding the shady salesman goodbye.

He had left in search of a decent 'hunting ground', and was now standing outside a building, which sported a dark red lit-up sign reading 'The Sanctuary'. Beneath the sign were steps leading down to a heavy-looking door, and considering the volume of music coming from behind it, this wasn't exactly a sanctuary for the ears. Obviously fashions and trends tend to change over the course of decades, so Chrono _had_ been expecting people to look a lot different than he was used to. Still, when looking at the line of club-goers waiting to get inside, he was forced to admit that the diversity in apparel was staggering.

One guy wore a fancy looking cream-colored suit, and for all purposes he appeared fairly conventional... except for his head. His hair was amazingly spiky, as if it had become hardened with plastic, the spikes themselves were all different shades of gray ranging from deep black to bleached white, and his face was decorated with quite an impressive amount of metal – one ring through the lower lip, three through the left ear, a bar through the right eyebrow with red glass on each end, a silvered 'bull ring' through the center wall of his nose, and two pointy metal studs below the skin of his forehead giving off the impression that he had naturally growing horns. Next to him was a girl who was obviously his girlfriend, she had on a form of tight-fitting gothic ghost-colored dress which was cut off at her knees. Her face had been powdered several shades paler than the rest of her, making her pitch-black hair, lips, eyebrows and eyelashes stand out even more.

Another one was dressed completely in black leather: Pants, shirt, trench coat and boots. Only his hands and face – minus the eyes which were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses – were exposed. He stood still as a statue, aloof and intimidating, apparently trying to give off the impression that he would enjoy nothing more than to get into a fight. If that did happen, the chain, going from the ring in his nose to the one in his ear, was bound to put him at a severe disadvantage. It actually looked slightly humorous when comparing him to another guy, who could be said to be almost the exact opposite in both clothing and behavior. He was clearly unable to keep still, already dancing (or jumping flippantly up and down on the spot) to the rhythms from inside. His upper body was completely unclad, except for a pair of black leather gloves, a spiked collar, and a tight-fitted black leather hood with holes for the nose and eyes plus a zipper which probably allowed him to drink through a straw.

For a second Chrono considered it to be some form of costume party, but there were enough people dressed more or less ordinarily to discard that idea. Many however, did sport hair- and eye colors that clearly weren't their own, and the red-eyed realized that while his own appearance might seem exotic to some, it could easily be explained as simple body decoration.

The line went all the way up to the street, moving quite slowly – Chrono had no patience for that.

He walked casually beside it, down the steps and towards the door. A single 'hey, no skipping pal' was yelled from somewhere, but that was it – presumably everyone had enough faith in authorities to let the doorman handle anyone trying to get ahead in the line.

"Back of the line, Sir." The heavy-looking guy at the entrance said, appraising the new potential disturbance with a cold professional look.

"**It's alright." **The vampire's voice was even. His head turned slightly askew as he extracted a name from the man's mind. **"I have important business with Mr. Trent, meaning you're supposed to let me in right away."**

"Uhm..." The doorman replied dumbly, clearly self-conscious and nervous now. "O-of course, Sir. So sorry for not recognizing you at first, Sir." His expression became almost pleading. "D-do you need me to call for somebody to escort you-uhh... Sir?"

"**No need for that." **The large man relaxed visibly at Chrono's response. He had just been saved the embarrassment of asking this clearly important guest's name. **"I know where to go."**

A couple of murmurs from behind, hinted that people were general puzzled when the purple haired was led inside. No ruckus began, since everyone having heard him speak, was convinced he was in his good right to cut through. The doorman was exceedingly helpful, and carefully explained to the guy collecting entrance fees, why this man should be allowed inside for free – the repercussions for mistreating a personal guest of the owner, was something the employees had obvious respect for.

Being left alone again, the vampire deposited his trench coat in the wardrobe and entered the club.

(Chiasm – isolated

myspace. com/ chiasm

or

youtube. com/ watch? v p6i-od5222c)

The sound of dark electro-industrial music greeted him as he walked into a large, oppressively warm and dimly lit room. A fluorescent bar spanned the entire length of the left wall, with the edge of the other three being occupied by chairs and booths, that, apart from the soft light of artificial plastic candles on the tables and walls, were smothered in darkness. A luminescent dance floor, covered in smoke and seemingly made of hardened glass, filled the center of the room. Red, purple and blue lights took turns at coloring it, and occasionally a strobe light would change it into a series of still photos. Chrono regarded the people casually, almost no one seemed to have a specific partner – dancing in front of, instead of with each other.

"Uhmph..." Something bumped into him – he turned his attention towards it.

A rather tipsy-looking girl, in a revealing skirt and top looked back at him. The contents of one of her drinks was now on the floor and partly on his shirt.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She yelled over the music, trying to find her footing again. "Did I spill on you?" Her glazed-over eyes widened slightly when they focused on his face, and were now walking non-discreetly over his body.

"It's ok, but..." Chrono responded in her ear. "...you're out of drink."

"Oh..." She turned to look at the glass, discovering that she'd emptied it on the floor. Her expression quickly changed from a pout to a smile. "That's OK. I'll just get another one. They're really good... wanna taste?" She almost shoved her still full drink in Chrono's face.

He gave her a much appreciated smile, before taking a tiny sip from the straw. "Thanks... and no, you will not be getting yourself another drink." He moved a bit closer. "I will."

"What? No, no, no, no..." She shook her head, but didn't try to pull away. "It was my fault, because..."

"You should know... It's _always_ the guy's fault."

"Really..." Her gaze was transfixed by the burning red eyes. "Then, when we bumped into each other?"

"My fault."

"And the drink?"

"My fault."

"And... that?" An inviting smile lit up her face, as her finger traced softly over the wet drink-stain on his shirt.

"Also my fault."

"Then what about..." She raised her mouth, and nipped slightly at his chin. "Did you just set me up?"

"'Fraid so..." In a fluent motion he grabbed the back of her neck, put his other hand on the drink to keep her from spilling, and closed his jaws around her throat. She barely managed a surprised giggle... too easy.

His teeth immediately elongated to sharp spikes, the girl moaned when they were brought near her vein.

Then he caught it...

A distinct scent of chemicals within her... Dammit! Must be what Dufaux had warned him against. He retracted his fangs, and withdrew from her neck.

She responded by pulling his face back towards hers, forcefully plunging her tongue straight into his mouth.

Red eyes shot open at the forward gesture, but he reluctantly indulged the kiss for a few seconds, before backing away. She was staring at him adoringly now. "Listen..." Chrono said. "...I need to go to the bathroom, but I'll be right back with another drink, OK?"

"OK. I'll just be over there..." Her hand pointed towards a booth at the far end of the room, then it went to his cheek, continuing to travel down over his neck and the front of his shirt... almost unbuttoning the damn thing right there and then. "...don't be long."

Christ...

Chrono quickly made his escape from the drugged up girl. The haunting female vocals of the music ringing through his head.

"_The monsters make me hide. Perhaps I'll eat myself alive."_

His ears twitched slightly, as he opened the men's room door.

"_Internally... what is there left for me to be."_

Music most certainly had come a long way from 'Bee bop a lula'...

The bathroom was nearly empty, having only one occupant: A guy swaying dazedly in front of the urinal – upright, with one hand on the wall, half asleep from alcohol...

Only alcohol.

To hell with it...

The drunken guy didn't see anything and hardly felt the steel grip clutching his throat, before canines penetrated into the back of his neck. Not even a sound escaped him as he slumped in the arms that held him off the ground, and his vital liquid was sucked out like the juice of a carton.

Crimson eyes closed as new life flowed into him... warm... sating... fulfilling...

And bringing an unwelcome dizziness with it.

Anger rose along with a bestial growl from the vampire's throat.

God damn prey just _had_ to get completely sloshed. _**'MY PREY!'**_

Teeth bit down forcefully into it's neck, a sickeningly shredding sound followed when his entire jaw bit into the flesh, and blood began to run from Chrono's lips. _**'MY BLOOD!'**_

A gargled sound escaped from the helpless prey's mouth, its heartbeat weakened, blood pressure decreased, breathing became shallow. _**'MY LIFE!'**_

He could take it all... feast himself on this worthless piece of cattle's...

"_THAT'S NOT NICE!"_

With a starled gasp Chrono immediately came to his senses, his eyes shot open in shock, his arms released their hold, and the unconscious man dropped to the floor with a hollow 'thud'.

The echoes of the voice, that had screamed through his mind, still lingered inside him. It had been accompanied with the image of a very angry and very reprimanding young blonde pigtailed girl.

Chrono looked down with still wide eyes. The guy lay passed out on the floor... a harsh bite wound marred the back of his neck – red liquid still exuding from it. He knelt down slowly, brought his mouth in contact with the injury, forcing himself to drink only the excess blood, closing the wound in the process.

But his senses immediately caught onto the guy's breathing again, his pumping heart, the amount of delicious blood still flowing through his veins...

It deafened him... blinded him... commanded him...

He couldn't fight it...

He needed to get out of here... NOW!

Rising to his feet again, he made it for the door, dammit... this dizziness didn't suit him at all.

"I saw what you did." A female voice spoke as the door to the men's room closed behind him.

"I know." Chrono stated without facing the speaker, he had sensed her watching him from the moment he entered. His hand was still gripping his temple – he had no time for her. "Go back to your master."

"I..." Her voice began quivering, taken aback that he had already discerned what she was. "...I don't know where he is."

"You don't... know?" Now, he turned towards her. The girl was slim and pale, dressed in a pair of stretch pants, with a matching top.

"No I thought... that you might have heard of him... his name is Anthony DeVille, and he's pretty powerful, and _really_ good looking."

"Of course he is... and no I haven't heard of him."

"Are you sure?" Her voice rose matching her increased desperation. "Because he used to come here a lot... can't you ask somebody higher in the hierarchy – they would most certainly know of him."

Chrono shook his head – he didn't need this, he needed to get out. "Listen, as I said before: I haven't heard of him, and I really don't have the time. He will find you – not the other way around."

Her mouth turned into a sneer. "You just won't, because you're afraid to upset your superiors. You're nothing but a little lackey who'll never reach anything!"

"You'd better leave now."

"NO!" The girl yelled. "Either you're helping me or... or... I'll reveal what you are!"

"You'll what?"

"I'll reveal what you are... I'll expose you, and then you'll get your head chopped off!"

"Go ahead." Chrono turned away, trying to get out of the taxing conversation. "Good luck with it."

"No! Don't go!" She whined. "I didn't mean to make you mad, I won't tell, I just..."

"Listen, I'm sorry." His insides were beginning to burn – he needed to get OUT. "I _can't_ help you."

"Yes you can..." The girl insisted grabbing his arm. "...I just... I reallyneed... blood... you can give me blood!"

"No!" Chrono pulled his arm back.

"Please... I need it soo _baad_..."

"Didn't you hear me? I said I won't!" His patience was hanging in a very, _very_ thin thread now.

"Yes you will... or... or... I'll scream rape!"

"**No you won't, you want to go home. Now!"**

"I... I..." The ghoul girl stuttered, her gaze lost in confusion, trying to fight the subconscious urge placed in her. "I have... to... I have to go..." Spinning around on her heel she literally stormed through the club's main room, and out the front door.

Chrono gripped his head in disbelief and suppressed rage. He had to get out too... before somebody ended up dead by his hands.

Forcing his eyes not to stray towards the people on the dance floor, he made his way towards the wardrobe, retrieved his coat, and stepped through the front door, out in the cool night air.

The line of people waiting to get in hadn't shortened, and the vampire hurriedly walked away from it. He could still feel the warmth of the people in the club, the quickened pulse of those on the dance floor, the scent of perfumes, deodorants, sweat and pheromones hanging thick in the air as drugs and alcohol broke down inhibitions and made hormones run loose. The feeling of life resonated through the night, and caused the atmosphere to shiver.

He had to get away from people.

Every part inside him was crying...

_**'MORE!'**_

Crying out for their blood.

_**'MORE!'**_

(W. A. Mozart – Confutatis:

youtube. com/ watch? v AxwiLowC44I)

Chrono ran down the street, almost staggering as his entire frame shook with bloodthirst, his eyes were closed, fists clenched, the guilt hammering away at his mind, trying to subdue the crimson roar that demanded death... a deluge of death flaring through the night, devouring everything in its path.

_'I can't . . .'_

He was losing...

_'I can't . . . fight . . .'_

His control was being incinerated in the reawakened blaze of hunger.

_'I can't . . . fight this. . . all this . . .'_

_Life._

It was everywhere around him, in the voices of the people, the smells in the air, the very vibrations in the earth. In a way it all seemed so very beautiful to him... so full of what he lacked. That familiar feeling welled up within, a melancholic longing for everything he had lost, everything he missed, everything he could never reclaim. He just wanted to...

Just wanted to...

_**'MORE!!!'**_

Embed his fangs in the soft, succulent flesh of the world, and suck out every last drop from within.

Until every _**vein**_ was _**depleted!**_

Until every _**muscle**_ had _**shriveled!**_

Until every _**heart**_ had _**collapsed!**_

He wanted to succumb to the rage, give in and discard this frail humanity, tear the cure for his inner emptiness from the very souls of the living with his bare claws and teeth.

He wanted to _**kill**_... _**kill**_ and keep _**killing**_, until all life had bled from the living and been claimed by his famished carcass.

"_Please . . . just don't eat us."_

_That_... voice.

Of course not. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

Not _Ever._

An image began to form behind his closed eyelids... it was not angry this time, not yelling, not disappointed. It was a figure that was soft, caring and worried, almost reaching out to him with invisible hands. A deep concern filled the ocean blue eyes of her face, the stare pierced through his mind and shattered every previous thought with a divine glow, until the raging crimson of his world had yielded completely to the soothing color of her gaze.

And then she made him see something in the azure depth.

In her eyes he saw his teeth plunging into a neck, he saw himself draining a man's blood, about to take a life... and then backing away in shock, letting the man drop to the ground as his arms released their hold on him. He saw himself kneeling down, closing the wound he had made before fleeing out the door, leaving the man lying on the floor...

But he was still breathing... he still had a beating heart... he still had enough blood to survive. In the eyes of this young girl Chrono saw something about his own feeding that remained indisputable:

That man would live.

That was what she made him see.

Chrono's feet had stopped moving. He was standing completely motionless, with eyes shut in the night of Los Angeles, slowly convincing himself of that which she kept showing him.

That he had _not_ killed tonight.

That he did _not_ need to.

That she wanted to help. That she could.

If perhaps... he would keep her in his thoughts.

Remember her scent.

Perhaps then...

_'I don't have to fight . . . alone.'_

The image of the sleeping, breathing form enveloped by a gentle blue continued to fill his vision, and the strange reassurance that the man was going to live slowly calmed him down.

A minute later his eyelids finally opened.

He was still in the same dimly lit and fairly broad street, on which the club was situated. Cars passed by at a very non-stressful speed, and were easily overtaken by the chilly autumn gust of wind which momentarily swept through the air – like an invisible entity trying to find it's way out of the urban maze. The voices of people had diminished, so he must have put a fair amount of distance between himself and the club. Good. It also put distance between himself and his thirst.

Chrono suddenly found himself thinking about the ghoul, perhaps because of her addiction to blood. He actually pitied the poor creature – she'd lost herself to the blood bond, and been made into a slave by some vampire who obviously had abandoned her. Considering how strong her craving for him was, her master couldn't even claim final death as his excuse for not taking care of her. He made a mental note that if he ever came across this 'Anthony' guy, he ought to teach him some things about feeding blood to humans, and taking responsibility for one's 'pets'.

A car honked.

Chrono looked towards the road where a Cadillac convertible with lowered chassis cruised by lazily. He recognized the driver, and was actually somewhat grateful. Talking to somebody right now was probably the best diversion from his turbulent thoughts there was.

"Well if it ain't da OC himself. All shined up." The black guy in the driver's seat greeted, as he brought the car to a halt.

"OC?"

"Original Camarilla. Heard you you went and had a nice little chat wit da prince."

Chrono put on a slight frown. "Words travel fast around here."

"Fuck yeah... ain't a thing going on we don't know about."

"Oh... and who're we, then?"

"Hell you sayin', fool?"

"Just that... that I don't know who you belong to except... you're not Camarilla."

"Well... fuck. Ain't you juz stating the obvious? " The driver retorted.

"So?"

"Well, fo sho I ain't no gawd damn Sabbat, if dat's what yo thinkin! I mean, do I look like a Mr. Fuckin' Shovelhead to you? Hell no! Anarch all da way. Da free rockin' livin' dead, man."

Chrono spotted a figure slumped in the back seat of the vehicle, she had blond-dyed hair, dressed in skimpy clothes and was breathing steadily in her sleep. A part of him was really relieved to see she was still alive. "...I see you didn't drain her."

"Aww... her." He glanced back at the back seat. "Shiiit... ya know, I thought I was gonna and then the bitch – still out cold – mumbles dat she loves me... you belie' dat shit? I juz couldn't suck her dry after hearing her say sumthin' like that, it ain't right." His eyes shifted back towards the Kindred on the sidewalk. "So why you still standin' there? Get in, dawg."

As he opened the passenger side door and seated himself, Chrono mused a bit over the guy's logic – like some form of personal code of conduct he adhered to. It was a good thing to have. "You fed her your blood?"

"Yeah... gots myself dis idea ya know... wit the bitch still out workin' as a ho, I'd watch her ass, make sure nobody tries nuthin', and den I juz drain da pop-tarts once dey paid her. Ya know, did it already tonight... peoples was paying cash up front _and_ donatin' blood... hell, one of da guys straight up told her it felt so good he be SURE to come back to her. It's da business of da century, cuz if she don't age, it can go on an on, like a fuckin' duracell."

"The vampire pimping out his ghoul to random strangers... now that's beautiful." Chrono smirked. "I never actually caught your name."

"People call me Snake Eyes." He put the gear into 'drive' and the car began to move slowly down the street. "Anywhere you need to go?"

"Straight ahead is fine..." Chrono said, relaxing more, as he let himself sink back in the seat. "So why Snake Eyes?"

"Cuz..." His finger tapped the front of his temple. "...when da ladies get a look at these, you know dey wants a taste of _my_ apples. But you can juz call me Snake for short."

"Alright..."

"Yeah... and don't bother tellin' me your name..." He leaned back, keeping his left hand slumped lazily over the steering wheel. "...you's called Chrono, couple of brothers in da clan filled me in already."

"Seems I'm building up a reputation quickly."

"Word on da street is you did a long ass time ago... but I've got nuthin' against you even if you _is_ a Cammie... and a Torrie. I mean, sending a gawd damn Prince six feet under... now dat's Brujah style... my kind of style." He glanced in the rear view mirror, briefly checking on the sleeping girl in the back seat.

(Tupac Shakur – Runnin' (Instrumental)

youtube. com/ watch? v M9s9FTQXZL8)

The words sent Chrono's thoughts back, and he fell silent, with his gaze settling on the dark road through the front window.

He almost couldn't recall them, those black specks in his past that were shrouded in darkness and pain, barely within his conscious thoughts. Brief flashes... still pictures of people hurting... being killed... slaughtered... a short vision of dying moments... a fragment of a terrified scream... the memory of running from his own anguish by hiding inside the mindless rage buried within himself... making the world feel what it was like to be left with nothing but hate and regrets...

Left alone...

"Snake? Who's your sire?" Chrono didn't even know why he asked this.

"My sire..." The driver glanced sideways at the passenger. "I ain't gots no fuckin' sire."

"You don't?"

"Hell no! Way I was embraced I'd smoke the muthafucka if I knew who dun it."

"Why?"

"Well fuck me..." Snake said in a good natured tone. "...a Cammie who actually cares about shit. You really wants to know?"

"I do."

"Alright, it happened a few months back... see I ain't no old timer, guess I'm what you'd like to call a neonate. I was juz cruisin' down the streets one night, mindin' my own business when these animals juz fuckin' _pop_ outta nowhere and jump me..." The words were accompanied with several gestures from his right hand. "... now I'm tellin ya, dey _looked_ human... sort of... but dey acted like a bunch o doped up vultures, know what I'm sayin'?"

"Sabbat?"

"Hell yeah, dey was Sabbat... didn't know at the time, though – thought the only real bloodsuckers was lawyers and bored white kids wit mental issues. Now, I'm tellin' ya, _these _guys was something different. Dey's all over me like _that!_" He snapped his finger. "Didn't have time to whip out my gat or nuthin', I only remember one of them biting down in my arm before I pass out. When I wake up I'm in this deep fuckin' hole in the ground, and there's a crazy muthafucka busy shoveling dirt in my face. What's up wit dat shit?"

Chrono knew – there were memories in him... memories that weren't his own, and they had seen it... lived through it. "It's their inauguration ritual. It changes a human mind... changes it into that of a Sabbat."

The beenie wearing vampire's interest awoke. "You know about this?"

"Yes. They do it to their newly embraced. They bury you. You wake up, trapped in a prison of earth, unable to move, unable to breathe..." Chrono's vision darkened as it was taken over by images from an existence that wasn't his own. "You believe you are suffocating... the human once inside of you actually does... it chokes to death... forcing you to realize you are human no longer. Your mind struggles... tries to find a way for you to live, reverts into your most primal survival instinct, your beast... and as you fight your way out that beast starts to dominate every part of you. You claw and scrape your way upwards for hours, days, trying to break free... the cold earth is everywhere, in your mouth, your lungs, behind your eyelids... your body bleeds life... you mind bleeds consciousness... your instincts wrench away your very sentience." He blinked a few times, trying to get rid of the disturbing sensations shooting through him. "Not everyone makes it – there are those that literally tear themselves apart. But those who do get out... they emerge as wild, maddened beasts stripped of rational thoughts, nothing left but pure hunger... a mindless craving for blood." His gaze turned towards the driver again. "As you put it... shovelheads."

The dark skinned had become mute, eyes staring on the road ahead and the white stripes that one by one passed underneath the car. A disgusted look rose in his face, as he realized this was a fate he had barely evaded. "Dat shit is fucked up."

"Yeah... you're right, it is... fucked up." Crimson eyes followed the people on the sidewalk, walking casually through the night, oblivious to those hiding somewhere in the shadows. "After you get out, they trap you again, chain you up for days, force-feed you their blood, while they feed from you as well. It builds a bond of blood with your coterie, it fills the emptiness previously occupied by the sentience you have lost, and replaces it with a collective mindset, a sort of... group identity." Chrono had never really considered where those memories within him came from, for the first time he found himself wondering what sort of person had been destroyed this way. "Ordinary Sabbat do not exist as individuals, they are nothing but a part of their group, part of a hive mind."

"Yeah I heard about that too. Said if a fuckin' coterie member ax you to set yoself on fire, you gonna do that, if he ax you to smoke yo momma, you gonna do that shit too. Muthafucka' aint even gotta say please, and he'd do the same shit if you ax'ed him."

The mention of a mother brought a slight smile to Chrono's lips. Snake Eyes was clearly still holding on to things from his mortal life. It seemed... well, he hadn't been a vampire for more than a couple of months anyway, and lucky for him he hadn't been turned into a Sabbat. "So, how did you escape them?"

"As I said... I woke up gettin' dirt shoveled in my face, I guess I woke a lot sooner dan they expected... hadn't even taken my piece." He patted the revolver lovingly. "I bust a cap in da bitch's face and climb up... the fuckers all around me, so I juz blast left and right, trying to get my ass outta there. I can't really remember all of it 'xcept at some point I sees the guy I shot first coming after me... I swear the muthafucka's running on all four, wit a bullet hole in his fuckin' eye, straight into his brain, and dere's foam n blood n shit flying outta his mouth... man... thought dey'd pumped me full of acid and I was trippin' out." According to his expression this incident had definitely left it's mark. "Anyway... couple of Anarchs must've seen it, cuz they turn up and saved my ass. Told me what was up, what I was, taught me a bunch of shit... been a Anarch myself since."

Chrono thought about this for a second. "You said... you got 'out of there'... where was this exactly?"

"Some fuckin' crack house down South Cen..."

He slammed the brakes, bringing the car to a sudden stop, and earning a couple of curses from other vehicles. Agitated brown eyes turned towards the passenger side, staring very accusingly at the Kindred sitting there. "You fuckin' crazy? You actually thinkin' of going there, ain't ya?"

"I might... if you can show me where it is." A horn honked angrily behind them.

"Hell no, fool! Or... I can, but fuck if I'm going back dere. Place has a big-ass neon sign sayin' 'suicide inside' on it. You gotta be outta your fuckin' mind!" Tired of waiting for the obstacle to move out of the way, a driver took a quick decision and managed to pass the Cadillac when the opposite lane was clear.

"Look, I'm not planning on going tonight, and you don't need to go yourself." The immovable vehicle was beginning to create a line of stuck cars behind it now, spiteful shouts were liberally thrown at it, requiring Chrono to speak up slightly. "I'll take care of the rest myself, if you just take me there."

"You think you some kinda one-man army or wha-SHUT DA FUCK UP MUTHAFUCKAS!!! And you! Get da FUCK BACK IN YO CAR!!!"

"I don't know." Chrono shrugged indifferently. Contrary to the Anarch he didn't pay much attention to the increasing number of pissed off people behind them. "Depends on the strength of the army, I suppose."

"Shit... You more crazy dan they is." Snake sat down, facing front again. "You gunna end up as a fuckin' pinãta getting bashed wit your own decapitated limbs, you know dat?" He started the car, continuing the lazy drive.

"Perhaps..." His vision skimmed the buildings to the side of the vehicle. An image of two smiling children with blond hair seemed to look back at him from the shadows, making the darkness retreat willingly. Some things were just worth risking a lot for. "But I've got my reasons."

"Daijm..." Snake hit the steering wheel, clearly angry with the decision he had reached. "Awight... I'll show ya where it's at... I ain't cool wit it, but I'll do it... gotta be sum' other night though... and don't expect me to hang around to bail yo ass out either, I'll take ya there, drop ya off, and then I'm gone, deal?"

"Deal."

As the eastern sky turned a brighter shade of blue, the car continued its slow cruise down the street. The girl in the back was still sound asleep, Chrono seemed lost in thoughts now, and the only sound coming from any of the vehicle's occupants was the occasional muttered 'Daijm' or 'Goddammit' from the black-skinned driver, who was clearly nervous about what he had agreed to – it affected him more than he was comfortable expressing.

"Could you pull over here?" Chrono asked after a minute of silence, he should make his way towards the underground chamber before the sun came up, and he was not about to let anyone know where it was.

"Sure 'nuff..." The car pulled up next the curb and stopped. Chrono opened the door and stepped out, he turned his head when he was addressed again. "So... about da crack house thing... you gotta cell or sumthin'?"

"Don't think so, since I don't know what a 'cell' is."

"You know, you need to learn a lotta shit, man..." He pulled out a small thing made out of plastic from his pocket, flipping open a lid in it and showing the screen to Chrono. "This is a cell phone... you know like a telephone... one you always got witcha..."

Chrono looked at the minuscule electronic device. "Smart."

"Yeah... milk one outta dat Prince of yours... or get cash to buy one... and remember to watch yo ass around 'em." He pocketed the cell again. "Lots got cameras in 'em, and I don't need to explain why those are bad news for us." He turned his eyes towards the road again. "So how am I supposed to get a hold of you, when it's time to bust up da Sabbat." He almost sounded as if he wanted to go himself, but the tone he spoke in wasn't nearly as brave as the words themselves.

"I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find you."

"Right... I forgot you is a Torrie... radar n' all dat shit..." He started the car again. "Well... gots to get my own ass inside soon... later man."

"Later..." Chrono responded to the departing vehicle, as he watched it drive off. He turned his back to the road, quickly glancing left and right to make sure nobody was nearby, before climbing up a downspout.

It was somewhat of a lucky stroke, that Snake Eyes would be able to lead him to what might be a Sabbat hideout. His encounters with the Sabbat had actually not been many, and he had never been in one of their havens before. Just the mere thought of going caused alarm bells – both rational and instinctual – to ring inside him.

Chrono made a swift, silent jump from one roof to another.

But he had reasons. It would give Dufaux more inclination to uphold a granted asylum, and keeping any part of the death cult in check would make the city a safer place during the night. Help to keep harm from reaching Josh and Rosette. It was something he wanted to do, something he needed to do. He began to understand why the blonde girl had become so defensive when he had offered to carry Josh for her... she _needed_ to take care of him, just as he _needed_ to keep them safe.

He hadn't noticed when it happened, but at some time these last couple of days, the thought of him protecting those two kids had sparked a strange feeling inside him – one which felt completely alien, but at the same time pleasantly calming in its intrinsic altruism. A kind of reawakened parental urge perhaps... something which had been extinguished a long time ago... or perhaps something he had never actually possessed before... not that he could remember at least.

It was a feeling completely opposite to the selfish nature of the beast, and maybe... just maybe, this feeling could drag him away from it. Maybe this feeling was the very defense he had never had.

Which was why, there was no choice in the matter.

He was going to exterminate every last Sabbat scum, or he would perish in the attempt.

It was that simple.

* * *

So Chrono has a little trouble controlling himself when dealing with live prey, well nobody said it was going to be easy for him to get back in the whole feeding business, and I kinda wanted to portray that, as well as indicate the importance of Rosette's influence. As the chapter title said I also wanted to get the point across that vampire blood is a highly addictive thing to mortals as well as immortals – hence Chrono's unwillingness to use it in order to alleviate Josh's illness two chapters ago (if anybody remembers that). 

Last time I also threatened to bring back the black vampire from the beginning of the chapter, and since I didn't really get any feedback about him, I chose to view it as silent acceptance, thus he has reappeared with both a name and a plot advancing back story. He is also the primary reason for choosing the instrumental rap track, since I wanted it to reflect his character – like setting up a theme.


	15. 2,5: Allfather

Author's personal discovery:

Well, it would appear that I've breached a sort of fanfic barrier. What I mean is this story is now in the 100000+ word group, and therefore it is now among the longest fanfictions in the CC sections (weee)... and to make matters even worse it's not even half-way done yet (damn)... gosh apparently I'm attempting to make it _the_ longest CC story so far posted (I promise to at least try not to do so by writing ridiculously long and boring author notes... hey I said try)

But it really was a bit mind-boggling for me, when I realized that some of the situations the story is getting to now, has been in my head since the beginning of this fic about 1½ years ago (perhaps that says more about my productivity than anything else :s), and actually this particular chapter has situations in it, which were nothing more than a few random thoughts during the writing of TCK. At least I hope the long 'processing' has refined it into being a decent read. As with a few chapters ago this one isn't so heavy on plotty stuff, but focuses more on interaction between our main characters, and of course... _story telling_.

In other news: I have actually managed cracked open the the next chapter of 'Antichrist' and have gotten myself approx 2/3rds into it, meaning it will be next in line for updating.

Disclaimer: Neither Chrno crusade nor Vampire: The Masquerade belongs to me, their respective creators already own the rights and rightfully so. All I am doing is merely mixing these two settings together in my humble blender of imagination, and I am earning no money in this process whatsoever (I really should know better, shouldn't I).

* * *

Music: Not much but there was one particular CC song I liked putting in here. 

CC gospel 1 – 21 Yumemiro Shonen - Joshua / The Dreaming Boy - Joshua

Enjoy.

* * *

"**Am I my brother's keeper?"**

* * *

Tomorrow is another night.

By Shnoosh

Book 2

Chapter 5 – Allfather

* * *

"Hurry up sis." The boy's voice was eager with anticipation, although hushed in order not to be heard. His muscles were tense, his right foot was tapping repeatedly, and the club-like wooden object half covered by a plastic bag swung impatiently back and forth. He was waiting below the window of his older sister's room. 

"Geez, Josh." Rose let out an exasperated grunt. She proceeded to climb down her improvised sheet-rope.

"C'mon already..."

"Stop rushing, will ya?"

"Easy for you to say... it's the first time in weeks I've been well enough to sneak out, and you know I wanted to visit Chrono too."

"I know, I know," she muttered under her breath, his words having struck her with a slight pang of guilt.

He had gone through a pretty rough couple of weeks. His coughing had suddenly taken a serious turn for the worse, and he had been a prisoner of his bed most of the time. It had been worst at night – to the point where she had heard it through the wall between their two rooms.

That had caused her to break the curfew, sneak out of her own room, and into his.

She hadn't been prepared though. Seeing him twist and turn his body in an uneasy sleep. Smelling the oppressive scent of the fever-sweaty room. Hearing his wracking cough, which continued even when he was only semi-conscious, and without the barrier of the wall to dampen the sound. Those impressions had sent more horrible feelings through her than she could handle. And worst of all: She didn't know what to _do_.

She_ hated _feeling helpless.

Of course one of their caretakers had appeared to check up on him, discovering that she was out past 'room-time'. The nun must have felt an inkling of sympathy for her, because a small warning, plus the promise that the incident would stay between the two of them if it wasn't repeated, was all she received. But the incident would prove not be a stand-alone one – how could they expect that? Josh was _her brother_. She was supposed to protect him, take care of him, why couldn't they just understa...

Some nights later it had all escalated into a verbal fight – one which had woken Josh (plus a few others most likely).

The nuns had given her one last warning: Either these 'curfew-violations' would stop immediately, or they would be forced to lock her door at night, effectively keeping her caged.

With clenched fists and teeth she had trampled into her room again, slamming the door. It was all she could do not to stuff their veils down their throats!

But her body didn't want to calm down, her eyes didn't want to stay dry.

And Josh's cough didn't want to stop.

The painful sounds had kept piercing through the wall, stabbing deep into her chest. At some point it had simply become too much.

So she had run out.

Needing to get away, to escape the sound, escape the clammy sensation of sickness, escape that constricting place with all its rules and regulations and...

But most all... what she had really needed then... was somebody to talk to.

Instinctively she had found her way to the Forest Lawn, in search of someone whom she hoped would have the time to listen to her. To her great relief Chrono had been there, it was almost as if he had been waiting for her to show up.

She had told him about Josh and his sickness. She had told about the cruelness of the caretakers. She had told about the unfairness of everything. She had probably rambled a bit...

But Chrono had listened patiently to all of it.

And when she had finally stopped talking, he had responded...

With a story.

A story about a man named Saulot.

"_Saulot . . . he was . . . a very knowledgeable man. He held a deep love for scholarly pursuits and delved into them whenever he could. People used to say his house was filled with all manner of arcane things, mystical books, strange relics coming from all corners of the world."_

"_Saulot was also in possession of a very kind heart, and whenever people were in need, he would readily lend his aid, if he was able. Some came to him seeking sagely advice regarding virtually every topic under the sun. Some came to him seeking remedies for a contracted illness. Some merely came for a friendly chat. Never once was anyone turned away."_

"_But Saulot was unaware that he was being watched, watched by the demons that lurked in the shadows of the world. They sensed the potency locked within his mind, and their greedy nature would not allow such a thing to exist outside their control. Through vile rituals the demons claimed his soul. They made him into one of their own, believing that this way they would come to posses what he held within him."_

"_Even if Saulot was a gentle spirit, the awakened demon within his heart was not, and a battle began raging inside of him. A battle between that which he once had been and that which he had become. It culminated when the demon forced him to do something he had never thought he would do."_

"_Saulot killed a man."_

"_Stricken with grief and self loathing Saulot fled towards lands far to the east. He believed he could not control his own growing ferocity, and so he chose to exile himself to prevent further harm coming from his hand. He was gone for a long time, nobody knew where, and eventually everyone believed he was dead."_

"_But in his lone travels he had found something, a place called Golconda where he had finally learned how to quell the demon that haunted his heart, and that discovery convinced him that he could return to his homeland. Upon his homecoming everyone was shocked. It was in part because nobody thought they would ever see him again, but mostly because his forehead now bore a horizontal scar . . . a scar that opened to reveal a third eye."_

"_Saulot claimed this was the visual proof of his newfound insight: An eye which could look into his heart, a gift he had used to discover the nature of himself and thus calm his inner rage. 'But', Saulot claimed, 'that is not all this eye will do.'"_

"_He said it allowed him to see into the heart of every man, woman, child and animal he met, and by simply . . . 'looking' . . . it would reveal to him the nature of any ill condition, any ailment, anything which was not as it should be, and also bestow the knowledge of how to relieve it."_

"_Of course nobody would believe him, many were scared of him, and accused him of having become possessed by a demon. They wanted to drive him away again. But a few desperate people wanted Saulot to prove his claim, and they led him to a man from their family who had fallen ill to the Black Pox. Saulot put his hand on the diseased, and everyone watched in mute awe when the infected skin turned from charred black to healthy pink. In mere minutes the man could get up and walk around, even though he had been just hours away from certain death. Thus Saulot was welcomed back, and everything seemed to have become alright again."_

"_But it wasn't."_

"_The eye was a blessing for certain, it had granted Saulot the ability to control his inner demon and heal others, thus despite his strange appearance people would come to accept him again. But the blessing came at a high price. Because the eye saw everything."_

"_Saulot's disciplined mind possessed enough mental strength to keep the third eye controlled with little effort. But there were times when he had no control, and during that time the eye would see that which was not meant to be seen by any man."_

"_Whenever he slept, Saulot would be plagued by nightmares. Endless visions of pure madness and horror. Images so inhumanly grotesque that no soul would be able to bear them for long without perishing. Mercilessly they poured into his mind during his sleep, into a mind unprotected by rational thought, unsheltered by consciousness, and with them they always carried the same sinister message, which he knew to be true: 'This is no dream, this is real.' From every sleep Saulot would wake up shivering, terrified and cold as the grave, with his own blood running down his cheeks . . . blood which had been cried out through his very eyes . . . all three of them."_

"_Still, he did not want to part with his insight, for he would rather allow himself to be harmed than bring harm to anyone else ever again. He took what little comfort he could find in the fact that he was alleviating the suffering of others, and everyone who suffered, human and non-human alike, could expect him to find a cure."_

"_Yet for his own suffering, there would be none."_

"_One day Saulot met with a demon – a truly wretched creature. It had once been human like himself, but its soul had been unable to cope with the change, and it had been driven completely insane. Saulot took pity on the poor creature and wanted to help it. But he saw that the veil of madness clouding this being's mind, had become such a vital part of it, that if it were to be removed completely, the demon would die. However, he also saw, that if he were to merely brush the veil aside with a gentle hand, the creature would come to know sanity again."_

"_Saulot found that this was not a lasting solution. No matter what he did, the veil would always fall back down, and push the creature into its pit of madness. Yet it was all he could do, so he did it. Not once, not twice, but every single day did he go to the insane demon, placed a hand on its forehead, and allowed it to perceive the surrounding world through the senses of a healthy mind."_

"_The creature was grateful, it always looked forward to his visits, and in the time they spent together, Saulot learned that it too possessed a unique insight, an insight that could only be owned by one, whose mind is lost to him."_

"_One day he told the creature of the dreams that haunted him, and the creature listened with great enthusiasm as he described the visions. Ironically, it was the creature's insanity which allowed it to make an irrational sense of these images, and in return for Saulot's continued effort to heal its mind, it did its best to interpret them . . . something he could never hope to do himself."_

"_And so even though there would never exist any lasting cure for that creature's mental illness, nor any end to Saulot's horrifying nightmares, they both came to terms with their fate . . . by finding within the other that which they lacked within themselves. Their damnation was irrevocable, but together they were still able to share brief moments of peace, wisdom and clarity. Moments that would stay with them forever."_

She had considered it to be kind of a kid's story of course: Naïve, a bit silly, and obviously fictional.

Still... the way he had told it. Spoken so vividly, with so much enthusiasm and warmth. She had thought there might be a deeper meaning to it – a message saying that if you never gave up, if you stayed true to what you believed in and kept searching for the answer, then you would find it. It might not be what you expected it to be at first, but in the end that didn't matter.

She had felt strangely uplifted when she had gone back to the orphanage again.

The next day she had tried to tell the very same story to Josh.

Rose felt she failed in her intent. She had to admit that she never was very good at story-telling, and when she had finished the tale Josh had pointed that exact trait out to her... had he been in better health that would have earned him a noogie. But after a little while he had also said that the story was nice, asked her where she had heard it, and if she knew any more.

She had snuck out the following night as well... and the night after... each time she would go to the Forest Lawn and find Chrono there, each time she would receive a new story, each time she would tell it to Josh the day after... and each time Josh would seem to get a little better at hearing another story, which was the whole reason why she had risked it almost every night for these past few weeks... well that, and she sort of liked being around the purple haired boy... not that it meant anything.

But tonight...

Tonight was going to be different.

Josh had gotten much better, and tonight was the first time in almost three weeks, where they would all be together again. He was clearly exited, and so was she.

"Ok, let's go." She whispered.

"About time."

The two kids ran away from their home, silently making their way over the fence which was meant to keep bad people out and them in, unaware that they were being carefully watched from a nearby rooftop.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

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"So..."Josh spoke softly, swinging the wooden object casually back and forth. "...this is where you usually meet with him?" He glanced at the heavy-looking metal gate leading into the memorial graveyard.

"Yeah..." Rose didn't catch the innuendo in his voice, keeping her eyes on the Mickey Mouse wristwatch... God, she wanted a new one. One that didn't scream 'kid'. "He should be here shortly... he's usually here at ten."

"Aha..." Josh couldn't help smirking.

"What's with the face?"

"Oh nothing... just... you guys have your own fixed place to meet... your own fixed time..."

"Hey! It's not like that."

"Sure..."

"It's not! So stop looking like that... I'm serious Josh if you don't stop I'm gon-QUIT IT!"

"Hey Josh, Hey Rosette." A third voice called out.

"Hi Chrono." The impending brother-mutilation was narrowly prevented as both children turned towards the purple haired boy emerging from the shadows. Rose's (It was still only Chrono who called her 'Rosette' and for some odd reason she preferred it that way) eyes lit up slightly at the sight of him, she had to admit that the difference between what he had looked like the first time her and Josh had met him, and what he looked like now, was huge.

First of all, he didn't wear those old, dusty and dirty clothes anymore, like now when he had on a pair of casual jeans and a red dress shirt... she had never asked where he got all his clothes from. Secondly his entire body seemed to have undergone a form of transformation. His hair appeared more vibrant and alive, his skin had lost some of its paleness, and his features had become softer, less feral and in a way... more human. She really liked all the changes, and couldn't help believing that they were in part due to the visits she (and Josh, the times he had been well enough) had paid him.

"How are you, tonight?" His question was directed at the blond boy.

"Great... I'm much better, and Sis said you planned on going exploring."

"Hmm..." Chrono smiled. "I suppose I did promise something like that." He had told the girl that next time Josh was with her, they could do some more exploring around the graveyard. There were plenty of old tombs, able to serve as a playground for an aspiring adventurer, and he had figured that looking forward to something like that might help Josh kick whatever he had come down with. "So, what are we waiting for?"

With an eager grin Josh handed the plastic sack to his sister before being the first to climb the fence. He climbed quickly and energetically, as if determined to give off the impression that he was in perfect health.

Chrono was handed the sack as the boy's sister went second. Normally he would have offered a helping hand, but he knew that would probably only spark another indignant rant about girls being boys equals (at the very least), and he wasn't about to spoil the mood. He was the last one over the fence, effortlessly scaling the barrier, and swinging himself over the top with the sack in hand – he couldn't help enjoy the wide-eyed stare Josh gave at the display of acrobatics... vanity was such a guilty sin.

"So, Chrono." Josh grabbed the sack again. "Where should we go?"

"Why, off the trail and into the underbrush of course. There are plenty of rarely disturbed places in here." He shot a grin which was immediately returned by the two children.

(CC gospel 1 – 21 Yumemiro Shonen - Joshua / The Dreaming Boy – Joshua)

They began making their way through the darkness of the dense bushes and trees, the kids had brought their flashlights too, and used them to find objects of interest which were readily discussed. Soon they were no longer on the west coast of the United States, but venturing through a deep jungle in South America, having found the lost ruins of an unknown part of the Maya civilization. Carried forth by imagination, the exploration team walked between strange monuments and shrines to long forgotten deities. They uncovered ancient secrets of unsurpassed importance. They deciphered archaic texts, describing horrible rituals of sacrifice. Footsteps were kept soft, not to awake any of the dormant demons below – beings of vast power and unspeakable names, whose mindsets resided partially in underground temple complexes and partially in alien dimensions beyond human comprehension.

Of the three of them, Chrono was the most narrative. Whether it was a myth, a tale of a supernatural war, an anecdote about one who lay in a particular grave... he had a story about everything, and there seemed to be no end to the glow of imagination that radiated from him. In the company of the two kids he almost felt as if he was reliving a childhood... or perhaps simply _living_ one... he couldn't actually... recall...

Josh was immersing himself fully into the fantasy, sucking everything in and adding his own twists to the tales of gods, heroes, beasts and long forgotten legends. He was constantly smiling, and his eyes were wide with the wonder of experiencing something extraordinary.

Rose enjoyed herself too, although not so much the fantasy itself, but rather just the opportunity to forget everything about the orphanage, chores, sickness. And also because she liked seeing Josh so happy. Being together all three of them was turning out to be even nicer than she had expected.

The minutes flew by like seconds, and soon they found their way to an abandoned square stone building... a hidden temple, which they went inside. It had a set of stairs down, perhaps leading down to catacombs, where an ancient one slept...

"Careful, we do not know what might be hidden down there." Josh said, still 'in character'.

"What do you think it could be?"

"I don't know..."

"Shh..." Chrono said as he pretended to listen down the stairs.

"Can you hear anything." Josh inquired.

"Yes," He responded imitating an Arab accent, "Asps... very dangerous... you go first, Indy." He was almost quoting a movie – one he knew the boy liked.

The boy smiled. "We should proceed with caution then, the fate of all humanity might depend on us." He began to pull the plastic sack off the wooden object. "This will help us find our way, and scare away the snakes."

Chrono looked as the boy uncovered the rest of the object. One end of the wooden club had been covered with bundles of old tattered rags that were smothered in paraffin wax. Paper had been stuck to the end, and the whole thing was tied together in several places with heavy string resembling rope.

The blonde girl looked questioningly at the home made torch. "When did you make that?"

"When we did that candle-making thing." Josh smiled and fished out a set of matches. He struck one and brought it towards the paper, which lit up with a 'whoosh', and set the rags on fire. "Whoa..." A few seconds later the melted wax began traversing up the cloth and made the blaze settle into a more controlled flame.

Chrono's eyes went wide and wild, his right arm was partially raised, ready to shield his face.

"Now we're real explorers, right?" Josh smiled and turned towards the purple haired boy. "Let's go Chrono."

"Josh..." The other 'boy' managed to say in a somewhat normal voice. He pointed at the torch. "...be careful... with that..."

"What?" The blond boy smiled. "This? It isn't dangerous. Look." He waved it around a bit, causing the flames to dance through the air. "I was very careful when I made it... wait... you don't like fire?"

"No..." He was becoming very, _very_ uncomfortable.

"Josh, stop teasing Chrono with that." The girl had noticed the immediate change in his expression, and she didn't like it at all.

"Oh, come _on_... it's just a torch..." The boy grinned widely, as he playfully stabbed the torch towards Chrono.

"I'm serious." He grit his teeth, his hands tightened into fists, and an animalistic growl began to form in the back of his throat. "Keep... that..._ thing_... away from me!"

"Haha... look sis. Chrono really _is _afraid of fire."

Unseen by the two children, the vampire's canines had become sharp and pointed in his mouth, his nails had turned to claws and were stabbing deeply into his palms, his...

"Stop it, Josh!" Rose stepped in between the two boys, causing her brother to back up a bit so he wouldn't accidentally hit her with the flames. "Can't you see he doesn't like it?"

"Alright, alright... geez."

"I'm just..." Chrono shuddered slightly, his eyes still fixed on the flames.

"Hey... look at me," She had unconsciously reached out to touch his arm, and was suddenly struck with the memory of the wicked burn scar beneath the sleeve. "Do you want it put out?"

Chrono turned his gaze towards hers, letting the blue color overshadow the blazing light. He liked those eyes, they reminded him of water... water that could put out... he breathed in. "No... it's alright..." His voice was a whisper and his teeth and claws slowly retracted. "Just... not too close, OK?"

"OK. Did you hear that Josh?"

"Yeah, yeah," The boy replied, not the least bit pleased that their fantasy world had been somewhat ruined. "Can we go down now?" His question was met with two nods, and he began walking down the stairs, followed by his sister and with Chrono bringing up the rear. "Auww!" He turned around to face the girl, rubbing the back of his head. "What was that for?"

"For being an insensitive jerk."

Chrono followed the children down the stairs, making sure he kept directly behind Rosette... keeping her interposed between him and the fire was... calming...

The torch did something to the underground tomb chambers however, and he had to admit that the tomb probably looked a lot more like an archaeological excavation in this light.

At the bottom of the stairs Josh turned right, and the short corridor ended in a chamber with several stone sarcophagi. His hand brushed over an intricately adorned heavy looking lid, and the decorative patterns lit up by the fire shone back with a golden glow as if they were made of... "Wow... these people must have been really rich..."

"Careful..." Chrono said in an ominous voice, bringing back some of the earlier playfulness. "The dead sleep lightly here..."

The blond boy cracked a smile.

The second underground chamber was 'explored' in silent reverence. The two children seemed to have developed a whole new respect for this place, as if it had somehow changed. All the little cracks and fissures in the stones were visible now, details were illuminated in a fiery glow, and the light made the tomb seem somehow more... ancient. The last room they entered was the one Chrono had been sitting in when they first met him.

"Omigosh..." A wide-eyed Rose uttered with slightly breathless voice. Josh was stunned.

They now they saw the chamber in its entirety. Not just viewing bits and pieces of it by using a flashlight to scour over parts of the walls. They received everything at once and it made the room into something completely different.

It was empty save for the small niche with the urn in one end, and the curved sword resting against a corner.

Apart from that there was nothing in here except...

Carvings on the walls... the floor... the ceiling...

Lots and lots of carvings...

Carvings...

_Everywhere_!

Every single stone had been hacked into, every piece of blank space had been cut up, every little inch of smoothness had been viciously mutilated, as if somebody had gone berserk with a chisel.

Images were splattered all over. There was no order to any of them, no sense of overall structure, not even a preferred direction of what was up and what was down, left or right. It all looked like the deranged workings of a raving madman...

The two kids glanced around. Nervousness had now snuck its way into their expressions, and the two sets of blue eyes found it extremely hard to close or look away – the siblings moved slightly closer to each other, as if they could somehow protect each other from that which surrounded them... nothing less than a sheer massacre... decapitated heads... hacked off limbs... impaled bodies... crushed eyeballs... torn apart entrails... blood... screams... cries...

"This is... horrible." Rose winced slightly.

"Yeah..." Josh couldn't help but agree.

"They're..." Chrono's voice was deep and breathy... it seemed to loom in the air behind them. "Only images..."

"But..." She whirled around to face him, the red gaze bored straight into her mind. "How could you... sit down here... with all this..."

"As I said. They are only... images."

"Still," Josh commented as he walked towards one of the walls. "The one who made these must have been really, really disturbed... and also been down here for a long time to make all this..." His hand brushed over a part of a carving. "Looks like dried blood..."

"Yuck..."

"Oh... wow..." Josh went towards the far wall. "Look at those over there... they are really well made."

"Yeah..." Rose follwed her brother. "I saw them too... the second time I was here... they look like pictures in a comic book."

"This detail is... amazing..." The torchlight glided slowly back and forth in front of the wall. "That looks like real smoke... and real blood... something about it seems really familiar..."

"You know..." Chrono went to stand beside the girl... a safe distance from the fire "There is actually a story behind those four pictures."

"Uhh... a story?" Josh immediately regained some of his previous enthusiasm.

"Yes there is... do you want to hear it."

"Yeah." The siblings replied in unison, for some reason the prospect of a story made them a lot more comfortable – even when surrounded by all these barbarous images.

"OK. Then sit down."

"Yay!" Josh couldn't help his outburst. He laid down the still brightly burning torch next him on the floor, and turned to sit down, Rose situated herself next to him.

"Once upon a time..." Chrono cleared his throat in a slightly theatrical way, as he dropped down to rest on the floor as well. "Back when the world was still very young, there were two brothers, who lived with their mom and their dad. Life was hard, food was scarce, and they had to help every way they could to support the household, which they did to the best of their ability. The eldest of the two possessed knowledge of the land, and he foraged plants, berries, fruits and vegetables. The youngest was wise in the way of animals and beasts and spent his time hunting for meat. But even though both they _and_ their parents worked hard and tirelessly, there never seemed to be enough to eat, and every night they had to go to bed hungry."

Chrono raised a finger as if to make a point. "The eldest said to himself: 'The wild fruits and berries grow so sparse and so spread out... I spend too much time searching for them instead of gathering them... there has to be a more effective way. If only I could keep them orderly, I would be able to collect so much more.' At the same time the youngest said: 'All the animals I hunt run away from me... I waste too much energy chasing them. If they wouldn't run away, I would be able to provide so much more meat.' And so they both set out to improve their craft. The eldest would strive to learn about the ways of cultivating seeds, plants, and crops. The youngest would gain the trust of animals. They became the world's first farmer and the world's first shepherd."

"Uhhh!" Josh interrupted. "I know now! It's Cain and Abel!"

"Shut up Josh. I wanna hear the story." His sister broke in.

"You'd already know about it if you'd paid attention in Sunday school."

"Bah... that's so boring. And I'm paying attention now."

"Hey, you two." Chrono said with a little smile. "There's no reason to start a fight. And yes Josh, you're exactly right. This is the story about Cain and Abel, but I can assure you that you have _not _heard this version in Sunday school."

The blond broke into a wide grin showing his excitement.

"Now, these two brothers, Cain and Abel, managed to provide much more than they ever had as a hunter and a gatherer. Cain, who knew of soil and the fertility of the earth, cultivated a field where he harvested crops, which could be used for both porridge and flour to make bread. He also managed to keep an orchard with date palms where he supplied fruits for drink and sweets. Abel, who had discovered how to get the sheep to thrive in captivity, sheared the animal's wool, which their mother would make warm clothes of. He also slaughtered them periodically, so the herd remained constant in size, and provided the family with much meat which they either cooked, roasted or salted. Together the two brothers supplied more food, drink and clothing than their family needed, and that was when they decided, that they should pay homage to the one who had gifted them with the capability to overcome the hardships, with which they had been presented."

"Who?" Rose asked.

"God." Josh responded.

"Oh..."

"That's right..." Chrono continued. "And to this end they built two sacrificial altars out of stone. The altars were almost as tall as a man, and underneath each of them was a large bonfire. Cain took the richest of his crops, the sweetest of his fruits and placed upon his altar. Abel took the fattest, most succulent of his sheep placed it upon his altar and slaughtered it there. They each lit their bonfire and waited, allowing the flames to consume their sacrifice and send it skyward." He pointed at the first carving. "That is what is depicted there... because apparently their sacrifice was not considered equal."

"Yeah..." Josh couldn't help himself. "And then Cain killed his brother."

"Shut up!" Rose gave him hard push, making the boy topple over. "I wanna hear it from Chrono."

"I bet you do..." The blond turned over and lay down flat on his stomach, shooting a very pleased-with-himself smirk at the girl.

"If you don't..."

"Calm down, Rosette. Josh is right about Cain." Chrono interrupted her. "Apparently the smoke from Abel's sheep rose straight into the air, and was lifted all the way up to the heavens for God and everyone else to see. The smoke from Cain's fire stayed at the ground."

"And so, he became jealous."

"JOSH!"

"Perhaps... perhaps not." Chrono smiled secretively. "But he _did_ kill his brother. He took Abels skinning knife, the one used both to gather hides from wild boars, and shear wool from the sheep. He plunged it into Abel's chest and by doing so became the very first murderer the world had ever known, a murderer who took the life of his closest kin."

"That's..." Rose muttered. "Kinda mean..."

"But... the story does not end here. Because God had sensed through the fabric of the world what had happened and he confronted Cain, saying: 'Where is Abel, thy brother?' Cain sought to elude the question and merely answered 'I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?'. But he could not keep the truth hidden from the lord of creation, and was met with a thunderous reply: 'What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood cries unto me from the ground, thy sin has marked thee, and now thou shalt be cursed from the earth. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be on the earth. Never again shalt thou find any true rest. Never again can thou show thyself before me. In the dark and in the shadow must thou hide, and as thy hunger for the blood of thy brother has brought this curse upon thee, so shall thy hunger last for all eternity." He pointed towards the second carving, and Rose could now identify it as portraying Cain being hurt by the light of God... being... _cursed_. She didn't know why, but she felt a bit sad for him even though he had killed his brother.

"It's pretty much the same as they told in Sunday school."

"Hush Josh. There are still two pictures left."

"So..." Chrono continued. "Cain fled. He was grieved and embarrassed, and to avoid meeting his parents he ran away. For 130 days did he run, and in all that time, he fought his own hunger, refusing to eat anything."

"He must have eaten something... nobody can survive for that long..."

"Josh!"

"Eventually he came upon a woman, a woman none other than the former wife of his father."

"What..._former_ wife? And you also said he ran away from them."

"That I did. The woman was not his mother, she was in fact the first wife his father had."

"But... Adam was married to Eve."

"Yes he was..." Chrono leaned forward, looking intently at the two kids. "But prior to Eve he had another wife, a woman by the name of Lilith. A woman who was now a demon, as the result of her own actions."

"The bible doesn't say anything about that." Josh professed.

"Directly... it doesn't." Chrono smirked. "But in the Book of Genesis, you might notice that God first creates a man and a woman, both directly from the earth. Later on it claims that he creates a man from the earth and subsequently creates a woman from his rib... the second woman is named Eve... the first one... is not mentioned again, except in other religious scriptures."

"Oh..." The kids replied in unison, staring back with wide eyes. "...really?"

"Yes. According to myth, Lilith was the first to ever eat from the Tree of Knowledge. She became aware that she was created from the same soil as her husband, and thus demanded that they enjoy the same rights. Adam refused, believing that certain rights had been bestowed solely upon him, and a vicious argument followed. It ended with Lilith leaving the Garden of Eden... it was after that, that God created Eve."

"So Lilith was thrown out?"

"No, she simply left herself."

"Oh..."

"She did manage to sneak back in some time later, wearing the guise of a snake and convincing Eve to eat from the same tree as well. Supposedly she didn't want one she saw as her fellow sister, to live in what she considered oblivious submission."

"What?" Josh shook his head. "So _she_ was the snake? And the snake wasn't evil?"

"It had it's motivation..." Chrono said thoughtfully. "It was certainly a selfish motivation supporting its own belief, but whether it was evil or not... that's probably up for interpretation."

"Wow... I've never heard that version before..."

Chrono merely smiled at the statement.

"So what happened with Cain." Rose asked.

"Well," Chrono continued, "Cain met Lilith at the shores of the Red Sea." He pointed at the third carving depicting the man and woman looking out over the water of an ocean. Rose couldn't help but think that Lilith was a really beautiful woman.

"She immediately recognized that he was fleeing from something, and since she had been an outcast herself for most of her life, she could relate perfectly to what he was going through. Lilith was not without compassion, and after she learned about his curse, she took him into her home to shelter him. She soon became a teacher for him as well, granting him access to the vast knowledge she had obtained from the fruit she had eaten. Cain eagerly learned from her, and found that she apparently had received far greater knowledge than his own parents. However, as they lived together, Lilith began to develop feelings of more than just companionship for him, and those feelings were strongly reciprocated by him."

The torch next to Josh flickered once, causing the shadows of the three figures in the chamber to dance wildly. Rose had laid down on her stomach too and both siblings were quiet now, caught up in the tale.

"Their love..." Chrono glanced downwards. His eyes cast a brief look at his own left sleeve. "Was not... meant to last."

Rose made a small pout, she liked it better when stories had happy endings.

"As their feelings grew, they became more and more attracted to each other... and they began to desire each other... physically. But on the night where they meant to consummate their relationship..."

Josh couldn't help snickering, Rose shot him an annoyed look.

"On that night the curse, which was still upon Cain, would come to full expression..." Chrono continued in a low voice. "And that night would be the one, where he would know the true extent of it. As his passion rose..."

"Hehe... passion rose."

"Shut up Josh!"

"As his passion rose, the hunger within him also rose... rose to overpowering heights. The voice controlling his heart wanted not just to claim her, but to hurt her, to devour her and to destroy her. Cain was unable to fight against it, for it was what he was deep inside. Lilith tried to protect herself, but it was in vain for Cain was strong and she had surrendered herself to him, leaving herself completely defenseless towards his attack. Controlled by his instincts Cain literally tore her apart, slashing and cutting her body open, clawing and biting, drinking her life, reveling in her death." He paused for a moment, as if this part was slightly hard for him. "When he... finally came to his senses, she lay before him, unmoving and covered in vicious wounds. Her eyes displaying both her fear of him, and her sorrow for the happiness, which she had only gained a brief taste of, before she lost it again."

Chrono pointed at the last carving. "That was the moment when Cain finally understood. Understood what he had become, what the curse had made him into: A creature composed of nothing but murder, a creature that could only sustain itself on the life of those who had at one time been its own kindred."

"Again he fled, with the very powers of God's knowledge coursing through him, powers he had ripped out of Lilith, and combined with his curse these powers would mark him as a being mightier than any other man. Yet at the same time he was consumed by a grief that would never leave him; forever forced to hide from the divine light of day, as he could never again show himself before the eyes of his creator; and possessed by a bestial hunger he could never conquer. Against that, he was powerless. He became the being known as... Caine, the very first of those creatures that walk the earth at night, sustaining themselves on the blood of those they once called their own kind... and that is why, even to this day, there are people who, when they speak of vampires, refer to them as... Cainites." Chrono leaned back marking the end of the story.

"Oh... wow!" Josh exclaimed. "Cain became a vampire... cool. You know I betcha that's also why we call these canines." He opened his mouth pointing to the teeth in question.

"Oh, calm down." Rose said, rolling her eyes. "It's only a story." She couldn't really find the same fondness for the tale as her brother, it was much too... bleak for her liking.

"You know what? I don't _think_ so." Josh continued being caught up in his own eagerness. "It all makes total sense."

"What are you talking about?" She responded. "It was just a story, nothing more. There's no reason to believe any of it. Can't you tell him, Chrono?"

"Yeah... Rosette's right." Chrono's answer immediately made the girl smile and her brother frown. "There really isn't any proof of anything, and it is very reasonable to assume that it's only a fictional tale – meant to explain the unknown. After all vampires probably need a myth of creation as much as humans do."

The frown and smile switched places.

"Hehe... yeah." Josh agreed.

"Uff... you're both stupid." Rose muttered. "And what about Dracula? Why isn't he a part of the story then? Isn't he like the most powerful vampire ever?"

Chrono smiled at the mention of the name. "Are you asking, if Dracula is real?"

"Uhm... no eh... I don't know!" The girl cast her arms out wide. For some reason the direct nature of that question unnerved her – as if it implied that he very well could be real.

"Well, the story certainly doesn't exclude, that a vampire, going by that name, existed sometime during the 15th century in the area now known as Romania." Chrono stated casually. "The events in this story happened so much earlier, and doesn't really have anything to do with him."

"I bet Caine is a much stronger vampire than Dracula anyway." Josh was grinning widely now.

"Oh, come on! Don't tell me _you_ believe all this Chrono." The girl continued to argue. "I mean vampires... demons... the whole thing is just silly."

"As I said it might be, it might not be." Chrono shrugged. "To me... it holds about as much credibility as the bible."

"But... seriously... God _cursing_ somebody. Even if that guy _was_ the first murderer, God wouldn't place a curse on him... it's just not... well it's not like him."

"I never said that God actually cursed Caine."

"Uhhm..." Josh raised a sceptical eyebrow. "You kinda did."

"No, I said that God told the human Cain, that he had become cursed. When Cain killed his brother he didn't just commit a murder, he committed _the_ murder, he literally created death since no human had perished ever before. The world at this point didn't even encompass the idea of a human life coming to an end, much less another human being responsible. As a result the world adapted to make room for this new concept. Abel's life ended and Cain, through the nature of his own actions, was cursed into becoming that which ended life prematurely. He became the embodiment of murder, so to say."

"But that's..." Rose shook her head.

"It's the exact same thing that happened to Lilith. She was made a demon by committing the very first purely selfish act in the world, thus she became the paragon of selfishness. Likewise for Adam and Eve, when they left the Garden of Eden behind them."

"You meant, were kicked out, right?"

"No, I meant left. When they shared the fruit of knowledge, and discovered the capability of their own minds, the Garden of Eden was no longer suitable for them. Possessing intellect and reasoning, they could no longer be satisfied with everything constantly being perfect and nothing needing to be changed. Their minds were now able to solve problems, and therefore they also _desired_ problems to solve – thus the world outside the Garden of Eden was created to accomodate for this new aspect of humanity. You can say that Adam and Eve had become adults in more ways than one, and they now needed to be the masters of their own existence."

"What?" The girl looked extremely sceptiacal. "So you're saying that all of it... eating the fruit of knowledge, getting... what... expelled from Eden... all of it was... meant to be?"

"Not really I suppose. According to the bible humans were created to have dominion over fish, birds and every other animal and vermin creeping or walking upon the earth. They have that here on earth, just as they would have in the Garden of Eden, the only difference is that they have achieved by their own merit, what they would otherwise have been granted directly from a higher power. Both routes accomplished the intention God had for mankind, they were just... slightly different."

"I dunno... it kinda makes sense... but..." Rose bit the inside of her cheek, it was all a bit strange, and slightly scary that the whole thing began to seem reasonable to her.

"But hey." Chrono smiled. "As you said yourself, they could all just be stories and musings, spawned from a desire to explain where everything comes from and why. Since there's no proof of anything, you can't really tell, right?"

"Nah..." The girl responded, still unable to let go of the idea that it seemed... reasonable... and she didn't know why.

"But say they only were stories..." Josh said as he lazily rolled onto his back, shortly looking at his torch which was getting a bit low on fuel. "...even if they're not true... that doesn't mean that vampires don't exist... because they still do, right?"

"Oh yeah, _that's_... a given." Chrono replied.

"God..." Rose groaned.

The vampire grinned at the trace of defeat in her voice, and he rose to his feet again. "Hey you two, how about going outside again, the night is still young, and there are quite a few ancient ruins of these long forgotten Maya people we haven't explored yet."

* * *

Well... better stop here before I go all overboard in spouting any more homebrewed semi-religious pseudo-philosophy of questionable worth. But apart from all that, I guess it truly was 'story time with Chrono' in this chapter... I mean I had a plan of using the myth of Caine as one of Chrono's stories ever since I started this fic... it's part of the reason why I wrote that bloody intro in the first place. I hope I didn't bore you too much with all this, since there really isn't a lot of plot-heavy stuff, but I've always liked the idea of Chrno entertaining Joshua and Rosette in the anime/manga with all manner of tales, so I had to give it a go. 

Until next time, have a great day, week, month, year (hopefully it won't be that long until the next update), and please remember that I do not count myself among the people believing that 'no news is good news', which means that reviews are greatly appreciated :)

Further Remarks/musings etc (skip at your leisure):

For those of you wondering about Lilith, I believe it will confirm general suspicions if I point out that in the World of Darkness setting she is known as the dark mother (the mother of all demons). She survived her encounter with Caine, and built secret 'gardens', using what she had learned from the fruit of knowledge, where she would live with her children. These gardens were apparently a place meant to imitate the paradise, which she originally had left. In a common version of the whole 'Lilith myth', she also went to live by the red sea, where she was hunted down by a couple of angels who threatened to drown her in its waters. Of course this can all be combined into meaning that her gardens (which were located near the ocean) eventually became submerged. In the CC canon, Pandemonium (the 'world') is situated at the bottom of the ocean, and all of this fits so well together with the biblical Lilith story, that you'd almost think it was Daisuke Moriyama's intention in the first place. Then again... you can probably find so many versions of all this, that you can get everything to fit however you wish (plus the Lilith figure from folklore might be older than the bible as well so...), but in any case it was one of my early inspirations, which led me to try and combine these two settings. I did take a few liberties with the story however, as It was never stated in the WoD mythology that Lilith was romantically involved with Caine, only that she sheltered him, taught him stuff and was subsequently betrayed by him. I do like the added flavor of this version, along with the fact that Chrono can't help relating the myth to what happened between himself and Maggie.

All of this is of course there to describe the essence of Caine's sin, defining the legacy of betrayal, murder and hunger as the core of every vampire's nature.


	16. 2,6: Sabbats

Gosh, an update! Now isn't that something? For those of you who thought the last chapter was slightly disappointing in terms of plot development, you'll be glad to hear that there's a bit more in this one. It also has a fair bit of action in it for those you who like that.

I must admit, that I'm kinda considering to get myself a beta reader for all of this, because proof-reading has a nasty tendency to wear me out. And even though I've never been criticized in the grammar-department, I do feel I could use some input regarding that (Seriously, I only have very vague ideas about setting commas in English. Most of the time, I feel that I'm just taking a big handful of them, and throwing them into the text, hoping that they'll land somewhere that's about right). So if you're a beta reader who's reading this story, and you're interested in a job that's gonna pay no money whatsoever (but maybe encourage faster updates), then there might just be a position open in this fic.

Also I haven't really found any music to this one, but I suppose it's better to get the chapter out instead of taking extra time in figuring out something to go along with it.

Disclaimer: Nah still not trying to claim any ownership, I'll be sure to let you know if it changes.

Story!

* * *

It is a concept which has existed throughout the history of humankind.

Every culture, which has considered where the world is heading, has had it. Every major religion, seeking to either reassure its followers or intimidate the general populace into adhering to its dogma, has had a version of it. And every mind, which has contemplated what the far future might bring, has at some point had thoughts of it.

There are lots of words for it.

Armageddon.

Apocalypse.

Ragnarok.

Or simply Doomsday.

That fateful time, when the world will cease to exist the way we know it.

And like humans, vampires have a version of it too.

In their lore it is called Gehenna, and many feel it is not just another superstitious belief, but a very tangible prophecy, that comes ever closer.

"Gehenna. It shall be the time, when fate arises from torpor in the form of thirteen ancient ones. Our progenitors; those who survived the deluge; the murderers of their sires; the doom of their descendants; the grandchilder of the Allfather himself. Their coming marks the end of us all, when their thousand year hunger shall be sated on a hapless world."

* * *

Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Book 2

Chapter 6 – Sabbats

* * *

Even though Chrono seemed to be lazily regarding the buildings that whizzed past his vision, his mind really wasn't occupied with looking at them right now. It was wandering back through these past few weeks, trying to wrap itself around what had been happening to him.

_'Nice.'_

It was the best way he could describe it, and realizing that this word was actually describing a part of his existence, left him somewhat perplexed – and a little bit amazed. It had been a time where he had felt something he had not known for many decades, something even his sleep and self imposed exile had failed to grant him, something which could almost be referred to as 'peace of mind'.

Because even though sleeping was a time of rest, and consequently a time of peace...

Sleeping was a time of dreaming as well.

Those dreams...

They had been nothing but one continuous nightmare, haunted by his own past. Haunted by the past of countless others. An almost endless trail of murder, with the only survivor being the one who had outlived the rest. It was true he could have woken himself up at any time during those years, but really... what would have been the point of that? After all, having a nightmare during sleep was somewhat easier to handle, than having one while being awake.

So for over forty five years he had continued to sleep through the intertwined nightmares of devoured souls.

Until.

These past few weeks.

A time so radically different from what he had come to accept as his fate, characterized by an odd calmness which had driven it all a bit back. As if the memories had agreed to retract towards the back of his consciousness, abating from raw bleeding wounds to one single dull ache, and the reason for this had been as incomprehensible as it had been... miraculous. Because his nights had been spent with Rosette and Josh. Because the light he felt within them – felt within her – somehow made the darkness inside himself recoil, and made him forget what he had been. What he still was.

All in all the last few weeks really had been...

_'Nice.'_

Tonight would _not _be.

Chrono left the train of thought behind, and focused on the present.

The Cadillac was driving down the street at a pace much faster than its lowered chassis and general style indicated it should. Snake sat leaned back in his driver's seat, his baggy clothes moving wildly in the wind, and the hood had blown off his head, leaving only the black beanie with the grinning skull to cover his scalp. He had one arm slung lazily over the steering wheel, and his posture gave off an aura of casual confidence.

The Brujah vampire's eyes revealed he was not the least bit calm however. When they didn't dart around nervously, they were concentrating heavily on the road ahead, as if he was constantly scared of crashing into something – even if the street was virtually devoid of other vehicles.

Chrono sat upright, unable to lean back comfortably due to the weapon, that was strung to his back underneath the red leather trenchcoat. He looked around, surveying the surroundings critically. This was most definitely a poorer part of town, the buildings were run-down; windows were missing; walls were crumbling; doors could barely hold on to their hinges. Trash from overfilled bins littered what hardly could be called sidewalks, sending the putrid smell of neglect through the atmosphere. Clouds of steam rose from open manholes, making the chilled air damp with vapor, that quickly condensed into small freezing droplets, and would sting the skin, had he been one of the mortals.

There were quite a few of those still in the streets. Humans... doing what humans now did when they had nothing sensible or constructive to do: A couple of shivering teenagers smoking something that wasn't tobacco; a lone guy next to a graffiti painting, which showed half of a young black man's face combined with half a skull – he was pouring a bit of malt liquor on the ground in front of the painting; a deal being made in a shady area involving somewhat harder substances than the two previous situations. There was a rawness to this part of the city, something which clearly stated that this wasn't a very comfortable or gentle place to live. There was a feeling in the atmosphere.

It was a feeling so thick that Chrono almost felt its prickly touch crawling over him.

A feeling of frustration.

Frustration from being poor, frustration from being looked down upon, frustration from being stuck and helpless. The feeling emanated from all around them, and to Chrono it shone like a greenish glow of envy, which had almost faded in an old homeless man, but was burning bright in the eyes of a kid gazing after the rapidly moving Cadillac. It was there all around them, threatening to burst through the thin barrier of human civility and let out a torrent of liberating destruction. It was a feeling, which every human living here hid behind.

Because such a feeling was the only natural response from having to live a life in fear.

That fear – as cliché as it sounded – was something he could smell. It was a subtle odor, hidden behind the ever so frequent scowl and challenging shout, but he could still sense it. There was something about the scent of people who were constantly afraid, something which clearly distinguished cold sweat from the regular kind. Like the trait of food which had gone bad a long time ago.

These humans were prey, and they knew it.

Their eyes all showed the same characteristic twitch. The one seen in the eyes of a gazelle, with no other option but to drink from the pond filled with crocodiles. They all had that jumpy fear of becoming the next in line of victims, but at the same time they all seemed incredibly worn out and tired. Tired of looking over their shoulders, because it wouldn't matter when the thing finally came for them; tired of feeling, because that meant they would have to be afraid; tired of living, because all they expected from life was for it to end. Yet, they still clung to their dismal existences due to some primal instinct, which told them that no matter what, being alive was _always_ better than being dead. To make it all somewhat bearable, they drowned their fear and anxiety in alcohol and drugs until every last shred of human emotion had become as numb as unprotected skin on a cold winter night – one such as tonight.

Even if Chrono hadn't seen any of the Sabbat yet, the area showed clear signs that they were _never_ far away.

A minute later, the Cadillac pulled to the side of the road.

There were less people here.

Or... in fact...

There wasn't a single living soul.

"A'ight..." Snake said in a voice forced to sound indifferent. The words were the first from either of them, since they'd entered the Sabbat's territory. "Place's juz down there and to da right... big red building lookin' like Fort Knox for every freeze dried dope fiend in L.A. Bars on da windows n' everything."

"OK." Chrono stepped out the vehicle. "Thanks for the ride."

"Juz... one question." The black vampire said. "Why?"

Chrono looked at the driver curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I mean... why you gotta do this? Dere's no way Dufaux would ax you to go SWAT on a fuckin' Sabbat crib. And I don't see you doing it cuz you wanna be some kinda prince-ass-kissa either... so why?"

"Why should it matter to you?"

"Shiit... you juz being one smart-ass-cracka now, ain't ya... cuz it does, a'ight?" He hit the steering wheel, eyes still darting nervously around at the smallest sign of movement. "I don't get _why_ you juz wanna waltz in like Ronald fuckin' Mcdonald going into Burger King... except Burger King is now the Muthafucking South Central House of Death, and the pretty girl asking if you want diet or regular is a frenzied shovelhead maniac ready to rip yo skin off and make _you _the fuckin' beverage. If you go in there you better be fuckin' prepared to _die_, and don't try sellin' me that whole it-don't-matter-anyways-cuz-we's-already-dead-typ-a-shit cuz this nigga... juz ain't buyin' it."

"Hmm..." The purple haired scratched his temple. "...if you really want a reason... I guess you can say, that I'm trying to protect something, which is important to me."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

Chrono smirked. "If I told everyone who asked me. I wouldn't be doing a very good job at protecting it, would I?"

"Da fuck? You always gotta be such a fuckin'..." Snake looked off to the side. After a few seconds his expression eased. "Guess I can relate."

The purple haired said nothing, as he turned his back to the vehicle again, his ears picked up a muttered 'nice knowin' you, man'. He came to the intersection. A bit away he could see the barricaded building – it was a dilapidated construction, with a caved in roof, which would do a very poor insulation job, and covered in a vast array of spray-painted tags. Most of the windows were smashed, and not a single one provided any glimpse into the inside of the building – all of them completely covered by heavy wooden boards, which had been nailed to the bricks.

"Shit... HEY!" Chrono's ears picked up the voice from behind. "Wait up, foo."

Looking back Chrono saw the black skinned vampire having exited the car, and heading towards him. He had pulled out his 38 caliber revolver.

"I thought you wanted to leave."

"Don't go changing my mind about this dawg. I don't normally do shit like this..." He came closer, gun in hand and with a determined look on his face. "...but if you's really serious about kickin' some Sabbat ass, I'm gonna go too, I gots ta settle a score."

"Fair enough," Chrono replied somewhat indifferently. If Snake wanted to go too, he wasn't going to tell him otherwise, that would be rather hypocritical. "I take it you're aware that it'll get ugly."

"Yeah, you ain't gots to tell me that." Snake cocked the revolver, and forced a predatory grin to form on his lips. "So how we gonna get in?"

"Through the front door." Chrono began making his way towards said entrance.

"What? You for real?"

"Yes..." The purple haired vampire reached over his shoulder, and found the grip that was just below the neckline of his trenchcoat. Fingers locked around the cold metal, and instantly an odd comfort went through him at feeling the familiar sensation of holding the falcata. He pulled the handle upwards slowly revealing the nearly three foot long, 25 pound heavy, curved, rune-covered blade. "...I most definitely am."

"What the motherfuck is that?"

"Something which used to belong to a Tremere primogen." A chill went through the air as he walked towards the door, it whistled softly through a crack in between the boards of a covered window. Inside was probably no warmer than outside. "He doesn't need it anymore."

"And you juz happen to walk around with it now..." Snake lowered his voice as they got closer. "So you plannin' to get medieval on the door widdat thing, or what?"

Chrono approached the entrance.

"No."

His eyes began to glow slightly, his nails formed into short claws, his index finger touched the keyhole while the other three curled into his palm, stabbing the soft flesh there. Blood seeped out of the wound and traversed up the length of his finger. It continued into the keyhole, filling it out and solidifying. Chrono put a gentle rotational pressure on his hand, as the blood inside the keyhole expanded and contracted, causing the tumblers to lock in place one by one. After a grand total of about two seconds he turned his hand along with the blood-lockpick a half circle, and there was a soft 'click'.

"Slick..." Snake nodded his approval as the door was opened silently.

They stepped inside the dark entrance room – there was no trace of light anywhere, and his nostrils were assaulted by the putrescent smell of flesh in advanced stages of decay. The floor was littered with trash, dirt, filthy rags and the corpses of rats. Some of the rodents were clearly drained of all blood, others had seemingly died from 'natural causes'. The walls were in no better shape, wallpaper and paint had peeled off, and there were random splatters of coagulated blood almost everywhere. Chrono was somewhat thankful of his body's inability to become queasy.

"Smells like shit in here..." Snake whispered.

A scream came from down the hallway.

Chrono's ears twitched.

It was a human scream. And it was weak... as if the person crying out lacked the strength to express pain.

Chrono walked cautiously down the hallway, brought the sharp edge of the falcata in contact with his left palm, and slashed the flesh open with a clean swipe. Blood began to slowly bubble from the wound, and he allowed it to flow out and cover the curved sword. The red liquid quickly disappeared into the blade. The metal was quite literally eating it, and the runes now lit up with an aggressive crimson glow. The fissure in his hand knitted itself shut again, leaving no trace of a cut.

Snake made no comment at the apparently bloodthirsty sword, which now seemed to almost shiver in anticipation.

Chrono stopped outside the door where the scream had come from. A quick glance was cast back at the other vampire, making sure he was prepared.

Then he rushed into the room.

There was a 'swish'...

And a 'splotch'.

The purple haired was already in the far end of the room, having closed the distance between himself and the lone vampire, who was now laying before him in two nearly identical and equally gory-looking pieces containing one leg, one arm, half a torso and half a head.

The Sabbat had quite literally been cleaved from scalp to crotch, before he had time to even realize what was going on, and the falcata hissed, as it sucked in more blood from the now decomposing vampire corpse.

Snake was unable to hide his surprise – he had barely managed to step inside the room. "What the... you dodge bullets too?"

"Occasionally." The Toreador responded.

It was now that the scent of this particular room became apparent to the two vampires, and while neither of them would be inclined to become nauseous, they both wrinkled their faces in disgust. The smell was downright horrendous: A disgusting mixture of rotting flesh, dried blood, urine, feces and vomit. It was accompanied by the sound of skittering cockroaches and larva slithering through necrotic tissue.

A barely noticeable groan came from the far corner.

Snake slowly walked towards where the sound had come from. "The... fuck..."

Chrono turned towards it as well.

On the floor was a dirty old mattress, with a ragged man lying on it. He seemed to be in his forties, but the amount of filth covering his skin effectively made his age indeterminable. His hair was unruly and whether it was naturally dark or only colored so by not having been washed was also unclear. His arms were skinny and his face was gaunt to the extreme – he was grossly undernourished. His wrists were cuffed and chain-linked to a hook in the wall situated about a foot above the floor. His eye sockets were sunken, shut, and seemed to be sealed tight as well, glued together by the pool of dried blood which covered each one of them. Where normally his ears would have been, there were ony two reddish-black scabs, both of which exuded yellow pus. Use of brutal force had made him both blind and deaf.

His clothes sacked loosely around his form – as dirty as the rest of him – and they were thoroughly soiled in the area around the crotch and legs. It indicated with revolting clarity, that he had not been given the luxury of a restroom.

The stench from him was so ghastly, that no human should be able to keep their stomach's contents in its presence – neither had the feebly writhing man, and the lower part of his face was caked with old, dried puke, which was now slowly being covered by fresh blood that oozed out of his mouth. Chrono had noticed that the dead Sabbat had been sucking on a severed tongue, and the fleshy muscle had not been cut off cleanly, but rather ripped out with force – this man would not survive for long, and if he miraculously did, he would be mute.

"That shit juz ain't right." Snake growled and raised the gun to point at the man's face, intending to end the misery.

"Don't shoot." Chrono stepped forward. "It will alarm everyone in here."

The dark skinned vampire lowered his firearm and stepped back as the other placed one foot on the man's shoulder, gently pushing him down and keeping him pinned. Chrono positioned the sword point just above the chest region and without hesitation drove the broad blade straight through the torso, the mattress, and an inch into the floor. The weakened man only managed to utter a little sigh before he was dead – his heart having been separated into two pieces.

"S'another one here..." Snake said, from another part of the room. "Dead already." He was standing above the remains of what probably had been a young and pretty woman once. Now there was nothing left but a rotting corpse lying on an equally rotting mattress, chain linked to a wall, marred by the signs of underfeeding and physical torture. Her clothes were in tatters, having been ripped apart, her face was missing a third of its skin, and her body was alive with sickly white maggots, burrowing in and out of the putrescent flesh. The carrion eaters had already consumed their way through one thigh, part of her stomach region and half her chest.

"The fuck's up with this?"

"It's the Sabbat way of keeping... reserves..." Chrono answered in a low voice. "They'll hold humans captive, drug them regularly and remove their physical senses in order to keep them sedated. They do it so they always have something to feed on – and satisfy any craving for sadism."

"Shit's disgusting. Who the fuck would wanna feed from _that_?"

Snake had tried to make it sound like he was only fazed by the idea of drinking the blood of these humans, but Chrono sensed that the brutality of the committed actions disturbed him quite a bit. It was a good thing to feel such a way, it indicated that a sense of empathy was still lingering inside the black vampire – something Chrono found hard to wake inside himself. He had seen and done too much to get affected in the same way, and the most he could feel at this was a slight sadness at knowing that some things just wouldn't change for the better. "The Sabbat's coterie will be able to feel its member's death, we should get moving, so they won't catch us unprepared."

"Right."

They walked slowly further down the hallway towards a set of stairs leading up to the next floor and down to the basement. There were nobody here, and Chrono's ears could pick up no sound of footsteps.

_'Too quiet.'_

He closed his eyes, and began concentrating to locate the auras of those, who ought to be here. Immediately he became aware of several menacing entities nearby... very...

"Holy... SNAKE! LOOK OUT!"

At that second the entire ceiling burst open, showering the two unwelcome visitors in debris. Inhuman screams and howls filled the air as several vampires dropped from the hole which had just been created by a massive punch from a huge feral Gangrel.

Chrono spun around himself, barely dodging a jagged knife aimed at his throat, while bringing the falcata into deadly motion. The tungsten blade connected with its target and cleaved its way through his midsection while emitting that hungry hiss, that sounded like it was turning water to steam.

"SHIT!" Snake yelled, trying to avoid the oncoming teeth of a frenzied vampire with an erratic hairdo and poisonously green eyes. He managed to duck out of the way, making the Sabbat fly over him, but another attacker grabbed his right arm and wrenched it 180 degrees around in it socket, forcing him him to drop the gun. "Argh!!"

The vampiress grabbed at Snake's throat, and the dark skinned Anarch only just managed to catch her wrist, keeping her fingers away from his major arteries. The momentum made them both fall to the ground, and the frenzied assailant shrieked, as her claws again went for his throat. Her attack suddenly lost its strength, and her eyes dimmed from their crazed shine. The tip of a wide blade protruded from her solar plexus.

Snake quickly seized the time he'd been bought by Chrono to get up an smack the vampiress into the floor. She didn't get up again, and she seemed to be weakening. He gazed in awe at the wide wound in her back. It showed no signs of beginning to heal, and she was bleeding profusely from it – that sword was making her bleed to death like a mortal!

Chrono parried another attack and retaliated viciously with his weapon. The other was very fast and dodged below the swing. He wasn't fast enough however, and about a second after Chrono had swiftly moved around and behind him, the Sabbat's severed head landed on the ground, closely followed by his body and a lot of blood.

It was going a bit too easy – they hadn't attacked all-out.

That was when Chrono realized this was a diversion made to hold them back – the coterie was shedding its tail to save its head!

"Keep them occupied!" He shouted, before activating his senses of perception and bolting down the stairs with a few of the apparently expendable Sabbats in pursuit.

"Whoa, man! Wait u-" But Snake didn't manage to say any more before a massive punch sent him flying and crashing through a thin wooden wall. He raised his head and saw the huge Gangrel – the one who had created hole in the ceiling. The guy looked like he'd been fed steroids since he was in the womb. "Oh, shit."

Delving into his powers, Snake managed to speed himself up enough to avoid the brute who trampled past him, seemingly unable to stop. The Anarch rose to his feet, and it was not a moment too soon since another was already upon him. He managed to sidestep and get a decent punch in, which drove the other to the ground. A subsequent kick sent the maddened shovelhead skidding across the floor – he was getting pretty good at this.

Then the brute came back.

The oversized opponent didn't hesitate to throw a punch, and Snake only dodged it by quickly jumping out of reach. The Gangrel continued his maddened assault, driving the much smaller but slightly faster Brujah back towards the wall. Snake needed an opening, but couldn't find any in between the merciless onslaught of rock-crushing fists. He was being forced completely up against the wall now. Another punch was barely evaded, and this time luck was with him. The brute's arm had gone all the way through the wall and it gave Snake time to step away from his confined area and place a forceful stomping kick into the guy's midsection.

His foot connected.

The Gangrel didn't move an inch.

And Snake flew backwards through the air. "FUCK!"

He landed on his back, and looked up to see both the brute as well as the one he'd sent across the floor coming after him now – to his right was the hole out into the hallway, which he'd first flown through. Tapping into more of his blood, Snake sped himself up as much as he could and leaped through the exit.

He needed his gun.

The hallway was thankfully empty, as most of the Sabbats had decided to chase after the clearly more dangerous of the two. The gun was still where he'd dropped it, and he ran for his trusty firearm, which at one time, before his embrace, had saved his life by taking another. He wasn't religious, but right now he prayed it could accomplish that again. Looking behind him, he could see both vampires stepping out from the hole in the wall.

The brute grunted and nodded his head backwards indicating that the other should go in pursuit of the purple haired one – he'd clean up here.

The 38 caliber revolver was now pointed at the Gangrel, whose eyes widened in surprise at seeing the threatening weapon. Then the guy let out a monumental guffaw. "You planning to shoot me with that peashooter, fledgling?"

Snake gave his weapon a short nervous glance before looking up again, his gaze hardening instantly. "Yeah!"

Then he fired, twice.

The bullets penetrated into the large vampire's chest, and his amused expression suddenly changed to pain, before he let out a scream and dropped to his knees. Smoke came from the gunshot wounds.

"CUSTOM MADE INCINDIARY BULLETS, MOTHERFUCKER!!" Snake yelled while closing the distance towards the howling vampire, who had dropped completely to the floor – he might possess the body mass of an ogre, but he definitely had a low threshold for pain. The Brujah raised his hand to land a heavy punch. He probably wouldn't get another chance, so he focused everything he had into his arm, trying to tap into every ounce of power locked within his vampire muscles, as he brought his fist down upon the back of the guy's head.

There was a sound of a skull breaking, a brain being mashed and a floor cracking.

"Holy fuck!" Snake exclaimed, having seen his arm going straight through and now being deeply embedded in the Sabbat's head, while feeling the smashed floor against his knuckles. "Didn't know I could do that."

X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X

Chrono darted through the basement corridor. His senses had pinpointed where another group of vampires were, and now he made his way towards them as fast as he could before they could escape.

Every Sabbat coterie was a joined being. But like every other being, it had a head. Someone was in charge of the rest, someone knew more and guided everyone else around like one would guide one's own limbs. He needed to get to that head. He needed the information locked inside it.

Chrono burst through a door, avoiding the rotting corpses of humans and animals alike, which were carelessly strewn about the concrete floor of the room. They were in the next one!

With a growl of anger, Chrono crashed through the second barrier, wood splinters from the door frame filling the air. There was a manhole in here, an open exit into the sewers, which they had planned to escape through. He sensed that the entire coterie was still here.

"KILL IT!" One of them shouted. He was a bit less bestial looking than the rest, with hair and clothes in slightly less disarray. His eyes and expression were as crazed as those of rest though, if not more. He was the head.

Expending his blood, Chrono sped himself even faster and whirled through the first who had come to get him. Effectively cleaving a path straight through the body for him to go through.

Two more jumped simultaneously at him, completely flanking him. The one on his right was beheaded quickly, but at the same time the one on his left managed to lock his arm in place; their joined psyches had enabled them to synchronize their actions to within mikroseconds, and somehow Chrono hadn't been fast enough to deal with them both at the same time. Bones were broken and tissue ripped open, when his arm was bent at a right angle at the elbow – the wrong way. He howled in rage and pain and brought the vampire slaying blade around in a swift and deadly arc, meant to separate the grappling vampire from his arms.

To his horror he was even slower than before.

The Toreador realized his movements were becoming immensely lethargic now, and his body felt heavier by the second. Wide-eyed and now fearful, he saw how the one who had grabbed his left arm also managed to wrest the blade out of his hand, by catching a hold of and breaking his right wrist. He was far too slow to stop it.

Someone was affecting him with a power, which worked the exact opposite way of his own!

Serrated claws dug into his back, making Chrono scream in pain. More arms locked around his own, trying to pin him down.

Soon it wouldn't matter whether he was fast or slow, because the vampires that jumped him were preventing him from moving at all.

Crimson eyes looked towards the leader. He had a casual smile on his lips, looking like he was completely calm. The twirling eyes still betrayed the raving lunacy, which boiled just underneath the composed exterior. His hands were outstretched and he was clearly using some form of vampire discipline.

Chrono had heard about those with the ability to affect the time of others. It was an ability similar to his own, but where his own would cause himself to move faster, these could single out foes and make them sluggish beyond compare. The power was exceedingly rare, associated with a bloodline within a clan, which had been made nearly extinct.

"Now." The leader said, suppressing his power again, in order to conserve blood reserves. "Kill it."

Chrono smiled as he felt how everyone around him began slowing down again. It meant he was speeding up. _'Don't get too cocky yet.'_

Chrono's arms were now being broken, claws dug into and shredded his back, chest, stomach, and sets of teeth penetrated hungrily into his flesh, as the coterie was set loose on him like a pack of rabid coyotes. But the vampire forced himself to ignore the pain, fought the attempts to suck out his precious blood, by keeping it from leaving him, making much of it flow into a part of him nobody had thought of restraining.

It bubbled through and solidified in his hair.

Suddenly the braid came alive, as it was animated by the blood he had pressed out through his scalp. It changed shape and flattened to a razor sharp blade. The part of it close to the roots constricted around one of the Sabbat's necks, squeezing until the throat literally burst and the head popped off. The bladed end danced through the air, slashing and stabbing left and right, Separating bodies from their limbs, and freeing the purple haired Kindred from the attackers who had tried to hold him still.

"I SAID TO KILL IT, YOU IDIOTS!!" The leader screamed again, reactivating his power.

The time, Chrono had bought himself, had given him a bit of a leverage. However, the strength of the leader's power didn't seem fixed, but cumulative instead, meaning that the longer he was affected, the slower he became. He needed to incapacitate that one quickly. If he didn't, this fight would be doomed.

The whip was highly flexible, and Chrono used it to its full effect to cut and stab at everyone around him. But their wounds closed again rapidly. The whip didn't possess the sword's ability, which caused vampires to bleed and prevented the healing of the wounds it inflicted. If he did not get the weapon back, the fight would become longer than he would be able to survive. Chrono leaped towards where it was still lying on the ground, quickly closing his fingers around the familiar handle.

He picked it up...

But...

_'Dammit!'_

He couldn't wield it effectively.

His arm was still broken!

Too late Chrono noticed a set of claws which came from above and slashed directly at his face. He turned his head just in time to save his eye, but the vicious spikes still raked their way down his chin and neck, lodging themselves deeply in the upper part of his shoulder.

The hair whip severed the hand at the wrist, but the claws were still implanted in him, making the deteriorating hand continue to hang down his chest.

More Sabbats closed in... he was getting too slow to react effectively... _'Dammit!'_

The sound of a gunshot ripped through the basement room.

Chrono heard a scream of pain from the leader, and suddenly he felt the debilitating power lose its hold over him. "Take that, bitch!"

Looking towards the entrance, Chrono saw the determined face of Snake, who was busy redirecting the revolver towards another vampire. More gunshot sounds filled the room.

Was he ever glad to see that guy again.

With regained speed Chrono lunged forward to stab the sword deeply into the stomach of an unprepared foe – his arm felt pretty good again. Without the leader's power, the rest were so slow, that he was able to dodge most of their attacks, while making the sword strike out to inflict wounds that caused as much pain to vampires as fire. The Sabbat fell rapidly now, some of them pulled out guns of their own, trying to still hurt the vengeful killer while staying at a distance. They soon discovered that he could cover every distance in this room in less than the blink of an eye.

Chrono noticed the leader by the open manhole. He was obviously trying to escape again.

In an instant, the Toreador was upon him, hauling him up against the wall and nailing him off the ground by driving the sword straight through his stomach and far into the stone.

The Sabbat leader screamed in pain from his suspended position, trying in vain to pull out the blade.

Chrono left him to hang, while directing his attention towards the remaining goons. They now showed unbridled fear in their eyes; both the fear for their own life, but especially the fear from knowing that the coterie would perish – the fear of being the victim of genocide. The purple haired vampire swiftly moved to exterminate them with his claws and hair whip. He tried to ignore the pleasure his inner self took in this act. After all, these goons were nothing but the broken remains of what once had been independent consciousnesses.

The last of the Sabbat dropped to the floor and began decomposing.

"Hah!" Snake exclaimed. "Dat's what happens when ya mess wit da wrong people, fools!"

Chrono looked around, making sure that there were no more threats. Using his senses, he confirmed that the barricaded building was now completely rid of any more vampires. He turned towards the black skinned Brujah, giving him a little nod. "Thanks. Your intervention might just have saved my hide."

"Shit dawg... that's juz whatcha do when you's down." Snake smiled, obviously enjoying the compliment.

"What's in the gun anyway? I've never seen bullets affect vampires like that." Chrono asked curiously.

"Ah, I juz got dis guy in the gang to hook me up wit some special rounds. Filled wit phosphorous or some shit like dat, starts burnin' when dey hit ya. Now it ain't gunna waste no bloodsuckin' asshole, but dey sting like a muthafucka, and dat's what's gunna take 'em by surprise."

"Pretty handy." Chrono agreed. He turned back towards the leader, who still hung on the sword in the wall. Blood had flowed from the wound and down the handle. The hissing sound still went through the air. The Kindred walked closer, and looked up at the strained face of a leader, who would soon be dead. "Bleeding hurts, doesn't it?"

The Sabbat only gave a defiant glare in return.

"Now," Chrono said casually, "I'd like you to inform me of the whereabouts of the Sabbat in the city, as well as your intentions here."

The Sabbat spat. "Camarilla worm! You'll get nothing!"

"I don't think you should be so sure." A menacing tone had crept into Chrono's voice and he hissed, barring his teeth threateningly.

"You're so blind! So pathetic!" The leader spat out again. "With your pathetic society not realizing that Gehenna comes for us all; trying to claim that it's just a myth; not willing to fight it like us! You're BLIND! But when the time comes you shall see, and then you shall SUFFER!" He let out a gargled chuckle which made him sound completely mad. "You're all blind to the _truth_."

"Well then," Chrono said with even more menace in his voice. "Why don't you _enlighten me_!"

And then the purple haired jumped up and plunged his teeth directly into the dying leader's neck, drinking his blood and forcefully sucking out his remaining life. The Sabbat was completely paralyzed by the violent feeding, which was draining him at a merciless rate, his eyes were wide with fright, and his mouth was open in the silent scream of an immortal in mortal pain.

"Uh... hey... dawg?" Snake said worriedly, backing away a few steps, when he realized what was going on. "Man, that shit ain't cool..."

Chrono heard nothing, his mind had lost itself to the pleasure of taking a life and claiming it for himself. His teeth dug deeply, impatiently, anticipating that sweet moment when the last drop of blood would be drained, carrying with it the completely bared soul. He could feel it. It was in there. Deeply buried beneath the protection of blood, which he was removing with gluttonous zest. It was thrashing inside the depths of the vampire – the last enduring remains of a long dead human. The only innocent part of this being. A part, which had become utterly suppressed, the moment he had become transformed into a Sabbat. It sensed the danger. It was scared. It felt the devourer, which sought to claim it and wipe it out, denying it access to an afterlife, promising only destruction at the hands of a devastating hunger.

It was desperate.

It was pleading.

It was begging for mercy.

It was unprotected!

Biting even harder, Chrono sucked the last drop of blood from the Sabbat claiming the dormant human soul into a ruthless heart, and silencing its pleas forever when he _crushed_ it out of existence, absorbing its power and knowledge in the process. He saw red now. Deep red. Everywhere.

The feeling rushed through him, the hunger woke forcefully, wanting to be sated again and again. Blood rushed through his body at a frantic pace, the beast roared inside him, and the Toreador tilted his head backwards while letting out a long hiss, trying to bring himself under his own control again.

Snake watched in horror at the spectacle in front of him. Chrono was on his knees, hissing and stabbing extended claws deeply into the floor. He seemed about to snap, and the Anarch felt a strong urge to just run away and hide from the diablerizing psychopath, before he himself became a victim. He took a few more steps backwards, and raised the gun – he had a feeling the weapon would do him little good against Chrono.

A few minutes later the Toreador opened his eyes and stood up slowly. His eyesight had returned to normal, and he went to yank out the sword, on which only a bit of dust remained. He turned towards the exit where a highly agitated Snake eyed him nervously.

"Uhh... dawg...?" The black skinned asked. "You alright? You's not gonna do sum crazy shit now?"

"No I won't." Chrono shook his head slightly. "And I'm alright. But it was something I had to do."

"What? That shit you juz pulled? That was fuckin'..." He didn't seem able to come up with an adequate word.

"Despicable." Chrono finished the sentence.

"Well... yeah. Why you even gotta do that... you's no better than them!"

Chrono passed by the Anarch in the doorway. "As I said, I had to. He had information about the Sabbat in this city, and I needed that. He would never have given it to me willingly, so I had to take it from him. I don't like that I did it, I'm not proud of it, but it had to be done, in order to get what I needed."

"Damn... that's sum heavy shit." Snake trailed a bit behind the purple haired Kindred. "So you got what you wanted?"

"Yeah." Chrono answered as his mind wandered into what it had recently aquired. Apart from powers such as the time-slowing ability, which surely could come in handy, there was a great deal of knowledge regarding the Sabbat.

He now knew the whereabouts of a lot of things, hiding places, blood reserves with captured humans. It was as if he had a map of the city, which all of a sudden had sprouted numerous flashing dots, which all indicated points of interest. This was what he needed to truly strike at the Sabbat menace that threatened the city.

That threatened those two kids.

But there was something else hidden in the information, and he couldn't quite figure out what it meant. It was a sort of mental list, appearing in his mind much like a list used for shopping. However it didn't list mundane grocery items or anything similar.

It was a list which consisted of seven entries.

The first three were 'crossed out'.

_Prudence_

_Temperance_

_Faith_

Another three were not.

_Justice_

_Fortitude_

_Charity_

A single one was encircled by a ring.

_Hope_

* * *

So there we go. Hope it was a good read, and if there's a lot of grammar mistakes or anything please point them out, because I kinda didn't proof read this as much as I probably ought to have.


	17. Note

Author note:

Hi, I'm sort of against posting something which isn't an actual update, since AN's really shouldn't get stand alone chapters. Unfortunately I feel I should let you guys know that I've run into the problem of my HD burning down last week (literally - with smoke and a smell of burnt oil/plastic) and I've thus lost a lot of what I was working on. Fanfic-wise this includes almost-finished updates for 'Antichrist', 'Simple math', and 'Tomorrow is another Night' (several future chapters for this one actually), plus something I planned as an add-on chapter to 'Astral line' even though the story was supposed to be finished. I think I've led some to believe that updates were quite close to some of these stories... apparently that was not supposed to be the case. I'll try and get back to writing these things as soon as I am able, but it may be a little while since fanfics weren't the only or most important things lost, just know that none of the mentioned stories are dead.

Again I'd like to thank everone who's reviewed - if it hadn't been for you guys, I wouldn't have the motivation to try and re-create this.

Snooosh.


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